Mercy on the Undeserved
by LVfangirl
Summary: Madison Sinclair is missing and Dick has been drugged and left for dead on a beach. Veronica must swallow her pride and help those that least deserve it, in her eyes. Mac is on the case, helping and falling for Dick along the way. Both MaDi and LoVe beginning 1 month prior to Logan's return, post movie. Rated T for eventual chapters. Thank you all for reading.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N I finally revised this chapter. I will be working on the rest soon. Thank you for all the comments, I need to respond to them and I haven't yet, so apologies! Thank you for all the follows/favorites, hopefully this chapter revision whets your appetites. **

"What is it about sunny days that make it impossible for you to concentrate on mundane things like paperwork?" Veronica grumpily asked, coming through the doorway of her office and into the reception area, where Mac sat, busily working at her desk. She scrunched up her face and scowled. "You look way too content."

Mac grinned, looking up from one of three computer monitors. "I hadn't noticed any sun."

Veronica rolled her eyes and gestured toward the window behind Mac, "It's out there, beyond the world of ones and zeroes." Sighing, she sat down heavily into a chair that sat in front of Mac's desk, reserved for clients. "Although, to be honest, I'm probably the one lacking Vitamin D myself. This is California! I should be exceeding the maximum allotted amount of it and instead I'm not even hitting the minimum. When did I start working so hard?"

"We both know why you're working so hard. Thirty-five more days, right?" Promptly changing the subject, Mac opened a folder that was sitting in front of her, turning it so Veronica could see it. "I found the info you wanted on the Haldwell case. I got into his email and found the correspondence you were looking for. Just printed it out."

Leaning forward, Veronica grabbed the folder and looked closely at it. "Bingo! We got him. I'll call the insurance company now. Thanks." She stood, tucking the folder under her arm.

As Veronica turned to head into her office, the front door opened and an attractive, middle-aged woman stepped in. She was wearing black tailored pants with an expensive-looking cream colored top, her long brunette hair pulled into a simple pony tail, and large sunglasses covered her eyes. Veronica stopped. "Welcome to Mars Investigations. How can we help you?"

Mac sat still, shock coursing through her. Veronica obviously did not recognize the woman, but Mac certainly did. It had been many years, but there was no way that she could have forgotten. She remembered the day she had been inside of this woman's house and an unspoken moment of clarity between them.

The woman hesitated at the threshold, and then stepped further into the office, shutting the door firmly behind her. Mac watched as she came closer to where Veronica stood, saying quietly, "I was hoping to speak to you about a missing person's case."

Veronica glanced at Mac and then back to the woman. "Absolutely, we can help you with that, but first of all, have you contacted the police? "

The woman let out a trembling breath, pushing her sunglasses up into her hair. "Yes, we have contacted the police, but they say they can't do anything yet, that it hasn't been long enough." She shook her head. "It's my daughter who is missing…they're saying that since she's an adult and that we've been receiving text messages that we have to wait."

Mac's breath caught and felt her eyebrows shoot up. She cleared her throat. "What makes you think she's missing?"

The woman turned to look at Mac, conveying no surprise to see her there, although she hadn't acknowledged her previously. "The text she's sent, they're just not what she would send. I don't know how to explain it, just call it mother's intuition."

Mac felt a hysterical laugh bubble up and she quickly tamped it down. From the corner of her eye, she could see Veronica looking at her strangely. Ignoring her friend, Mac stood and came around the desk to join them. "How long has it been since you've seen her?"

"It was yesterday at noon. We were supposed to have lunch downtown, but when I got there, she was rushing out, saying she would call me later. She never called, but text me at about five, right before one of her aerobic classes was supposed to start, saying that she had cancelled it and was heading home for the night." The woman looked between both Veronica and Mac. "Please can you just look into it?"

Veronica nodded, and said, "We can do a little digging. First, we need to get the basics, you know, her name, age, maybe a picture? We'll need access to a lot of information. And of course," she paused, Mac recognizing the effect as 'sympathetic Veronica', "we'll need to discuss the form of payment."

Cringing for what was about to come, Mac held her breath.

"Of course," the woman said, nodding, digging through her purse, "Her name is Madison Sinclair and she is 28 years old, here's a picture of her."

Mac saw the look of abject horror flash instantly across Veronica's face and the almost imperceptible eye flick in Mac's direction. "Why don't we take this into my office," Veronica said, gesturing toward the open doorway. "We can sit down and go over the past twenty-four hours, and see if there is anything we can do for you."

The two other women left Mac then, going into the inner office and shutting the door. Rattled, Mac felt herself beginning to pace, and she had to physically reach out to grab hold of the tall filing cabinet to keep herself from doing just that. What a day for Madison Sinclair to go missing. Mac had been going about her business, keeping her nose to the grindstone, and now this.

Twelve years ago, when she had found out that she and Madison had been switched at birth, it had been impossible to ignore the temptation to find out how the other half lived. She and her friends had crashed an 09er party at the Sinclair's house, and that was an evening she would never forget. That was the day she had met her sister, although Lauren didn't know who Mac was to her. Later that week, Mac had had to return and that was when she met Madison's mom, her birth mother, the woman who was presently sitting in the next room over, talking to Veronica about Madison's disappearance. There had been something that day, the way that Elizabeth had stared at her, an emotional tremble in her movements that told Mac that she knew exactly who Mac was. Even later still, when Mac had seen Elizabeth around, their eye contact had spoken volumes. Mac had been certain that there could be a relationship there, but then life had gotten muddled, and any hope of the two of them becoming anything more to each other had never happened.

Seeing Elizabeth Sinclair was enough to make her remember her younger, insecure adolescent self, trying to make sense of her family and life. Seeing her here looking for Madison brought up thoughts of the Casablancas boys, which was what Mac had been avoiding thinking of all day as it was. Because it had been ten years ago today that Cassidy had left her naked in a hotel room, gone to the top of the roof, tortured Veronica, and then jumped to his death. Mac had purposely been keeping busy today to keep her mind off of that fact, with the intent that tonight she could have a drink by herself to toast the memory of his better times, and to a life that was only missed by probably her and his brother. Veronica had obviously flushed the memory of it; they never spoke of that period of time. Really, Mac had little to complain of, since Cassidy had only left her in that room; Veronica had almost lost her life. But every once in a while, Mac would feel a certain loss that was tied to him and today was one of those times that she felt it the whole day through.

Later, as Elizabeth Sinclair exited Veronica's office, she turned to smile at Mac. "Thank you for your help. I appreciate it so much. I remember that you both went to high school with Maddie. I don't think you ran in the same circles?" She glanced back to Veronica, who was following her out. "Anyway, I'm sure it can be a little strange, working on a case regarding someone you knew…"

Veronica kept a straight, kind face as she responded, "We have worked a lot of cases that are personal, it's the nature of the business in a place like Neptune. Secrets are safe here; the investigation will be done as quietly as possible, unless we find that some sort of law has been broken. You have our word."

Standing to walk her birth mother to the door, Mac said nothing. She didn't trust her voice to sound impersonal, especially after Veronica's comment about secrets. Veronica stayed back, giving them a small amount of privacy.

As Mac held the door for her, Elizabeth turned to look Mac in the eye. "It's so very good to see you again, Cindy. It's been many years , I don't know if you remember once at one of Maddie's parties you had forgotten your purse and had to come back for it…"she shook her head, embarrassed. "Anyway, I'm sorry that it's because Madison is missing, but it's great to see that you seem well." With that, Mrs. Sinclair turned and left.

"We don't have to take the case." Mac said as soon the door latched. "We can call the Sinclair's and tell them…I don't know, we can just say it's a conflict of interest or something."

Veronica looked up and met Mac's gaze. "Mac, as much as I hate Madison with all my fiber, I can't make that call. That was your mother just now, asking us, no, _you,_ for help. There is no way that you can convince me that she didn't come here because of you. Everyone in town knows that you work for us now. She needs help and she's reaching out to you. The question is can you bear to help her, when she obviously is not admitting that you are her own flesh and blood."

Mac sat down heavily next to her on the couch. "But do we even care about where Madison is?"

Veronica gave her a look. "It's Madison. She probably got lost at the mall, locked in a dressing room or something. It will be probably be an open and shut case." She rifled through the notes that she had jotted down. "For whatever reason, Mrs. Sinclair believes that the four texts she got from Madison between five o'clock last night and noon this afternoon were strange enough to start looking into it. I wonder what constitutes as strange. That they were spelled correctly or that they sounded too nice?"

Veronica set the paper which she had written down the aforementioned texts onto the coffee table in front of them. They both leaned over to get a better look at what the texts had said:

_4:45 p.m. _Madison: _Cncled class, hdng hm with a headache. _

_5:08 p.m. _Mrs. Sinclair: _Take it easy and have a good night. Love you!_

No texts until the next morning, which read:

_8:56 a.m. _Mrs. Sinclair: _How's your head this morning?_

_9:42 a.m. _Madison: _ Taking day to slp. Will ttyl_

_9.44 a.m. _Mrs. Sinclair: _Can I bring over soup later?_

_10:05 a.m. _Madison: _ Pls no, just going to slp. Love you._

_10:06 a.m. _Mrs. Sinclair: _Let me know! I can drop by to check on you._

_10:07 a.m. _Madison: _I prob will be asleep. TTYL. Love you._

_10:08 a.m. _Mrs. Sinclair: _ I love you. Let me know._

"They don't seem all that weird, except that according to Mrs. Sinclair Madison seems a little adamant to be left alone in these texts. And then she said when she stopped by Madison's apartment, there were no lights on and her car was gone." Veronica eyed Mac, "Is this too weird?"

"Hell no." Mac smiled feebly. "Weird would involve smoking guns and two-way mirrors. This is just….a slightly awkward new case to dive into." She pointed at the notes in Veronica's hands. "I can hack into her email if you want."

Looking up at the clock on the wall, Veronica shook her head. "I think we should make some phone calls first, maybe see if there is a Jane Doe in the drunk tank or maybe that was brought into the county hospital. Although Mrs. Sinclair checked St. Mark's, she only checked to see if Madison, under her own name, had been admitted. Very likely that Madison got plowed last night, lost her ID and has been stuck somewhere without her Black Amex to bail her out." Standing, she looked pointedly at Mac. "Someone might have gotten a hold of her phone and is just playing with her mom. If you want to start with the hospitals, I can call over to the Sheriff's office; see if Norris has seen her. He can at least keep a look out for her, and I can give him a description of her car and plates, just to put some feelers out." Starting back towards the inner office, she groaned. "I need to finish up the Haldwell case, too. Once all that is done, if nothing turns up, we need to start on that list of Madison's BFF's, and then hack the email account, I guess." She frowned. "I think though, let's not go past closing hours. As much as Mrs. Sinclair is worried, it hasn't really been _that_ long yet. I have a Skype date with a certain someone that I can't miss."

They both went to work, wrapping up the little bit of paperwork and phone calls that Mrs. Sinclair had interrupted, and it wasn't until well after four o'clock that Mac was able to start on the calls to the hospitals. There hadn't been any Jane Doe's brought in at all that week, let alone in the past few hours, which was not surprising. With a promise from the information desk to call if any unidentified patients were brought in, Mac hung the phone with her last call at five o'clock.

The honks and yells of impatient drivers could be heard through the opened window, and Mac was not overly eager to join the rush hour traffic. Gathering up her phone and purse, Mac could hear Veronica on the phone in her office, and was interested to hear what she might have found out, so she tapped lightly on the door and stepped in. Veronica looked up, office phone to her ear, holding up one finger as if to silence her. Mac waited patiently as Veronica wrapped up her call and hung up.

Leaning against the door jam, Mac asked, "Any news on your side?"

It was Veronica's turn to gather up her things, grabbing her messenger bag and stuffing in her IPad and cell phone. She shook her head. "Not really. Norris said he would call if he sees her though. That was Dad just now, he should be back tomorrow." Coming around the edge of her desk, she continued, "I'm headed back to the apartment, are you headed to kickboxing?"

About a month before, the two of them had decided to move in together. It had been getting a little cramped at Keith's once he had been getting back on his feet, and Veronica had started to get the crazy eye of an adult child living at home. Mac had been considering a roommate to help out with the cost of rent, so when Veronica had desperately asked, she had readily agreed.

"Kickboxing and then I probably will be home a little later. Don't worry about me for dinner or anything. I'll just grab whatever. What time is Logan supposed to call?" Mac wasn't sure why, but she didn't really want to talk about her real plans for the night. This was Mac's dark night, one that didn't need accompaniment by anyone, especially Veronica.

Veronica smiled a bright smile. "He said eight. I think we actually might be able to make this date tonight. He seemed pretty optimistic when he asked if tonight would work. We're almost to under a month!"

Mac rolled her eyes and slugged her lightly. "Yes, and when the Skype calls turn into Booty calls, I may just have to kick you out for the honeymoon period."

Veronica widened her eyes in mock horror. "You would do that to a _friend?_ I'm crushed." Heading towards the front door, she continued, "Seriously though, if you kick us out, our next option is Dick's, because Dad's place is not on the table at all."

Mac laughed, following her. "I think Logan could afford to find another option if he is desperate enough. And believe me, I am not joking when I say, if you disturb the neighbors you are outta there for at least the first month."

* * *

**A/N I found on Mars Investigations Page the date of June 3 as the day Cassidy jumped. Therefore, that is why I am going with that date. And from all the reading I've done, Logan is set to return in early July. Lots more to come! Thanks in advance for your reading this!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N I updated the last 2 chaps as 1 but it didn't update like I thought, so I split it into 2 chaps. That is why this is so much shorter. If you didn't re-read chap 1 after May 5, please go back and reread it, it's about triple in length and much more detailed. Thanks! I hope you enjoy this **

Veronica was in her room, adjusting the monitor to her lap top, waiting for the Skype call to come in. It had been a few weeks since they had gone the Skype route, emailing instead. His last email had been hopeful, asking her if she could spare a few minutes Thursday night for him.

The _ping_ came and she accepted the call, and then he was there, smiling at her. "Hey."

She missed his touch; she wished he were here, sitting next to her, holding her hand. These past months had taught her a lot about how to have a relationship that couldn't be built on physical attraction or contact. There had been many nights of loneliness, where she had been sure that she couldn't make it to July, but now the end was so close, she was getting giddy with the anticipation of it.

She felt a blush creeping up her neck as she realized she was staring. The connection was always bad; she knew he was probably assuming that there had been a pause in the reception. "Hey. It's so great to see you."

These Skype dates always felt weird, she hated how she could see herself in the corner of the screen, it made her feel self-conscious and aware of how nervous it made her. It was always hard for her to sit still while they talked, and as much as she loved seeing him, sometimes email seemed better to express what she wanted to tell him.

He leaned into the camera, as if to see her better, "It's great to see you, too. It's been a while." The anticipated pause came in the reception then, delaying his movements. "What have you been up to?"

Veronica shrugged. "Oh, just typical cases." She had been debating all evening whether to tell him about Madison's mother hiring them, but she couldn't resist. "Elizabeth Sinclair came in this afternoon, claiming that Madison is missing."

Logan's face conveyed surprise, and he asked, "And you took the case?"

She had never told Logan about the Mac and Madison connection. The information was Mac's business to tell, so unless Mac had divulged it to Logan, he didn't know. Veronica felt herself squirming in her chair. "Well, it should be open and shut. She hasn't been missing all that long, just a day, but Lamb won't look into it yet, so her mom is being a typical nervous mama..."

"But you hate her. Why would you look for her?"

Veronica gave him a look. "I have a code of ethics I live by," she quipped. "But seriously, the look on her mom's face was pretty pathetic. And we really need the case, so I took it. "

Logan was silent for a few minutes. "Is that the only reason?"

She felt her resolve about Mac weaken. "You know I can never say no to a good mystery."

Nodding, Logan seemed content to let the subject drop. "So, speaking about Madison….that makes me think about Dick."

"Ah, my favorite topic to talk about on our only thirty minutes together all month…"

He grinned, but it quickly faded. "Sorry, I really don't mean to bring him up, but I just realized….today it's been ten years. Well, today in Neptune," he quickly amended.

Veronica felt heaviness settle over her as she glanced at the calendar hanging on her wall. Sickened she hadn't remembered, but knowing exactly what the "it" Logan was referring, she shook her head. "I completely forgot, Logan. Mac must be a mess! And I didn't even notice…."Her thoughts tumbled over the events of the day, and she winced. "I am the worst friend ever."

"Don't beat yourself up too much. I just remembered off-handedly myself. But I haven't heard from Dick for a while, I wondered if you had seen him?" he quirked his eyebrows, "I'm sure he's your first choice in replacing me."

Rolling her eyes in disdain, Veronica said, "Me and Dick, now that's a thought." She cleared her throat. "Do you want me to check on him?"

He shook his head. "No, I don't think so. If you happen by the surf shop, you could pop in quick maybe. Don't make a special trip. June is always a rough month for him. I'm sure he's just surfing through the days."

They really did change the subject then, talking about Logan's schedule and how they only had just over a month left of being apart. Too soon, Logan's time limit was up and they were disconnecting. Every time their calls ended, it felt to Veronica as if a small piece of her stayed with him. The room was always too quiet and too still, making her miss him more than ever.

The sound of the front door caused Veronica to remember about Mac and what today was. It was a little embarrassing that she hadn't even noticed a difference in Mac's behavior that day. The morning had been like any other morning, filled with phone calls and paperwork, and then the afternoon had been strange enough that Veronica had assumed Mac had just been stunned by the Sinclair case. Now, however, she wondered how Mac was really holding up.

She headed out to the living room and found Mac sitting on the couch in darkness, pouring a drink from a bottle of scotch into a shot glass. Quietly, Veronica sat down next to her, sighing. "I feel stupid."

"You don't need to feel stupid." Setting the bottle down, Mac picked the shot glass up and downed it, grimacing from the burn. "Madison is the least of my problems."

Veronica set her hand over Mac's, which was grabbing for the bottle again. "Slow down there, Nelly." When Mac met her gaze, Veronica continued, "I feel stupid because I forgot what today is. I'm sorry. I'm terrible."

Mac shook her head. "You don't need to be sorry. It's not your day. It really shouldn't be mine, but it's been ten years. _Ten years!_" Raising her voice, she let out a sob. "I just wanted to have one quick drink as a toast to him." She yielded her other hand, which held the lid to the bottle firmly grasped within it. "I promise. I'm done. Completely sober."

Veronica held out her hand for the cap, and once Mac had handed it to her, she firmly screwed it back onto the bottle. "You want to…watch a movie or something?"

"No, I think I'm just going to turn in. Have a good night." And with that, Mac headed into her room, not coming out again until the next morning.


	3. Chapter 3 Discovery

**A/N: Thank you Thank you for all the follows/favorites and reviews. I hope you are entertained with where I am going with this story, I hope to be able to get chapters out Tuesdays and Thursdays, but life comes first, so we shall see.**

The routine of their day started as usual, for which Mac was grateful. Veronica had seemed to have given her a pass for her behavior the previous night. She had just watched as Mac came out of her room and given her a long stare, and then offered her a cup of coffee. Mac could see that Veronica had concerns, but wouldn't press her unless Mac gave her the green light.

"Have you had any news from Mrs. Sinclair?" Mac asked over a bite of toast. "I was thinking that I should take a picture of Madison down to the hospitals and talk to a couple of the nurses. Sometimes it helps to actually physically talk to these people."

Veronica set her coffee mug down on the counter and reached for her phone. "Mrs. Sinclair had promised to contact me no matter the time, and I haven't heard from her yet." Swiping through the menus, she shook her head, "No missed calls or texts. I think you should definitely go to the hospitals in person. They'll be more likely to remember you that way, and you could leave pictures and a description of her there. "She pocketed the phone. "I have some running to do on the other cases. Do you mind doing the leg work by yourself?"

"Yeah, sure, that's what I was planning anyway. Did your dad make it back?" Mac grabbed her bag, digging in it to find her car keys. "Or do we need to worry about manning the office?"

"He text me last night that he made it home. He was planning to be in the office this morning; we don't need to worry about it." Veronica looked at the time and sighed. "I've got to get going. Call me if you find anything out."

The drive to the county hospital was a little out of Mac's way. A few years back, Neptune had decided to separate the poor sick and dying from the rich sick and dying, and had built a small county hospital on the far northern edge of town. Although it was relatively new, Mac's limited knowledge of the place told her the staff was a worn-out under-paid group that just got through their shifts and went home. The doctors were renowned for making mistakes, and the consensus was that you should not waste any time at County.

The likelihood that Madison had somehow ended up at County was pretty slim, but the possibility was there. There was always a chance of someone losing their ID, and with that the 09er privileges, and ending up in an undesirable place for even a little while. Mac couldn't fathom hard working nurses being able to stomach the demanding Madison for very long before trying to find a way to get rid of her. She figured they would grateful to give her over to Mac if she happened to be there.

As she parked, Mac decided to try the emergency room first. The shift might have just changed not very long ago, but she was optimistic that someone would be able to help her. Entering the sliding glass doors, she saw the waiting room was empty, fortuitous for her. That meant the staff would hopefully not be too rushed.

Approaching the counter, Mac could see the receptionist was on the phone, pencil in hand, busily thumbing through some paper work. She caught Mac's eye and smiled tightly, still speaking into the phone. A few minutes passed by until she hung up. Her dark brown eyes were cold and uninterested as she said, "You'll need to fill out an insurance form and I need to see your ID-"

"Actually," Mac interrupted, "I just need to ask a question. I work for Mars Investigations, and I am looking for someone. I just stopped by to see if you had seen her, or if there had been any Jane Does come in in the past, oh, thirty-six hours?" Seeing the woman's dubious expression, Mac quickly pulled out a business card and handed it over.

The woman took it, read it carefully, and then said, "We can't release any information."

Internally rolling her eyes, Mac replied, "All I need to know is if you've seen her." She pulled out a picture of Madison that she had copied earlier. "And I was hoping that you would keep this here, in case someone recognizes her or she comes in?" She cleared her throat. "Her family is very worried."

Sighing with impatience, the receptionist grabbed the picture out of Mac's hands and glared at it. "She hasn't been here on my shifts. You can ask the night nurses, but they're about to switch over at eight." She paused as if deciding something. "Come around through the doorway and I'll show you their locker room."

Surprised about the sudden helpfulness, Mac found herself being ushered down a brightly lit hallway, past doorways that led to exam rooms, and into the last room on the right, where there were three nurses bustling around their open lockers, obviously readying to leave. There were two middle-aged women, one short and plump, the other a tired looking Latino woman, and one young male nurse. The secretary interrupted them, loudly saying, "Hey! Excuse me!" Looked at Mac and then promptly left.

Taking the hint, Mac started in hurriedly, realizing that their shifts were over and they didn't have to listen to her. Explaining why she was there, she showed Madison's picture and said, "Please, if there have been any blond Jane Does in the past thirty-six hours, I just need to know."

The male nurse took the picture and looked closely at it. "We haven't had a blond _Jane _Doe, we've had a blond _John _Doe though." Laughing, he turned to look at his coworkers, "Did you hear him going on and on about beavers and dicks! He was plowed! Did you guys get a load of him?"

Mac paused, a little unsure of what she was hearing. The other nurses started in on the conversation, not noticing how unsettled she was becoming with each word.

"That guy was wasted!" The Latino woman clucked in disapproval. "Certainly old enough to know better." She shook her head. "I hope when he wakes up he realizes what a dumb ass he is."

All thoughts of Madison gone, Mac heard herself ask, "Where is he?"

All three nurses stopped to look at her, as if aware suddenly that she was in the room. They had been going on and on, and Mac supposed it was normal talk between colleagues to laugh about their patient's stupidity. But the look on their faces told her that they suddenly weren't comfortable with her being in the room.

Dread filling her, she quickly redirected her questions back to Madison. "Sorry, that description….sounds like someone that my missing person," she pointed at the picture the one nurse still held, "might have been with. If it's who I think, they used to be friends. A long time ago."

The nurse staff all eyed one another, and finally the male nurse shrugged. "He's in the exam room four. They brought him in about midnight, and he has been out almost ever since. It won't hurt for you to see him; if you can identify him they can move him sooner."

"How did he end up here?" Mac asked quietly.

The Latino Nurse answered, "Oh, an ambulance responded to a call to one of those beaches up the way…he had some injuries and was passed out and some surfers called it in. No ID and no one with him."

Suddenly cold, Mac began rubbing her arms. "What's his prognosis?"

The shorter nurse jumped in, "We can't give you information like that. As a professional courtesy, we will let you see him, but you're not next of kin."

"I don't think he has any next of kin, honestly," Mac said a little sadly. "His dad is….in prison, I think. And who knows about his mother. Can I just see him? To make sure it is who I think?"

The nurses led her down the hall and back to Exam Room Four. Mac felt her feet carrying her into the room, bracing herself for what she knew she would see.

Dick lay in the hospital bed, eyes closed, a tube taped into his mouth. It shocked her to see him so still and pale, looking almost dead. She approached the bed cautiously, as if afraid that he might wake. Her hands reached out to push his hair back off of his face, to look at him better. He had a gash on an eyebrow that had been stitched, a fat lip and a cast on his right arm.

Mac hadn't seen Dick in months, which was a little unusual for her. For years, she had kept track of Dick just to help keep track of Logan, for Veronica's sake. She had always used that as the reason why she knew when Dick had moved from the Neptune Grand, into an apartment, and then into the beach house. Why she knew the exact date that he opened the surf shop at Dog Beach, and the day his dad had been incarcerated a third time. The theory had been that if Veronica asked, she could tell her, but the truth was that Veronica had never asked. But Mac had always known, in case she did. Really, she didn't even know why she bothered. Once Veronica and Logan had found each other again, keeping up on what Dick was up to had seemed redundant. Any news, Mac knew, Veronica would tell her by default, since she could hardly keep any juicy news about Dick to herself.

But another huge reason for her stalker-y ways was purely selfish. There were times in her life when she was feeling weak and alone, that her thoughts would turn to Dick and how he was probably the only person on earth that would even remotely understand her grief for Cassidy. It was because of those times that whenever she heard his name or saw him across the way, her senses would go into overdrive and she felt hyper-aware of everything around her.

And though they had never been friends, she felt as if they were linked together because of Cassidy. Dick had usually always been, well, a dick to her in the past, but she had some understanding of why he was that way. Cassidy had told her bits and pieces about their family life that had been disturbing. She had always wondered how Dick coped with everything, but it had hurt too much for her to ever get the courage up to actually ask him, even back in college when he had awkwardly brought it up.

Looking at him now made her regret the decision to never ask. Even without being told the details, she knew what had to have happened for Dick to be here this morning. The saddest part was that probably no one would even wonder enough to report him missing. She wondered how long he might have sat here in County without his name at the door, just a random bum from the streets.

There was movement behind her, and she turned to see a nurse, newly on shift, coming in with Dick's chart and a reproving frown. The night nurses must have left once they had shown her his room.

Mac stepped back as the nurse went to work on Dick, checking his vitals and the amount of fluid in his IV. Regretfully, Mac turned and left, heading down toward the front of the ER where the receptionist was again on the phone.

Mac waited until she had hung up and then said firmly, "Your John Doe in room four, I can identify him. How long will it be until he wakes up? How long until he will be released, and what is the extent of his injuries?"

The receptionist stared at her for a moment. "I thought you said you were looking for a _Jane _Doe."

Biting her top lip to keep from screaming, Mac took in a deep breath. "Surprisingly, I found a John Doe instead." Trying to keep patient, Mac asked, "What do I need to do to formally ID him and get him transferred to St. Marks?"

**A/N I hope you are enjoying this, Please leave a review if you have time. It gets me excited to continue on to know you all are enjoying it...hopefully you are! Thank you thank you thank you!**


	4. Chapter 4 On the Case

**A/N: Yay! I got this chapter done. I had a lot of fun with Veronica sleuthing like old times. **

**A/N: So with each chapter, I am aiming to take turns with POV between Mac and Veronica. Veronica's turn is now, and next chapter will be Mac. **

The phone was ringing as Veronica let herself into Mars Investigations, and she rushed to answer it. Her dad could be heard in the other office, on the other line. Picking the receiver up, she said, "Mars Investigations."

"Hey, V, it's Mac."

She set her purse down and perched on the edge of the desk. "Hey! I was just going to call you once I got settled. I talked to Mrs. Sinclair and she says tonight is Madison's Pole Cardio Class at The Ten" She snickered, " _Vertical Limit _which is the same class she canceled on Wednesday night—the same group meets Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays at five o'clock. I was thinking to head over there just to see if anyone has anything interesting to say." There was silence on the other end, and Veronica paused. "That is unless you found something out?"

She heard Mac sigh. "Well, I found something, but it has nothing to do with Madison."

Alarmed, Veronica sat up straight. "What are you talking about?"

"Turns out County had a John Doe come in last night with semi-minor injuries but with alcohol poisoning. They found him on the beach passed out in his own vomit." Mac cleared her throat. "It was Dick Casablancas. I identified him as soon as I realized he was here. He had no ID on him, and he was at some beach not too far from here, all alone."

Veronica felt the beginnings of a headache. "You have got to be joking." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Logan asked me last night if I had seen Dick lately, which I haven't, but I don't usually see him…Logan told me not to worry too much, but this is not good. How long will he have to stay there? Have you talked to him?"

"He's still out. He's a mess, honestly, Veronica. They had to pump his stomach and he has tubes running all over, his arm is broke…"Veronica heard muffled voices coming through the line. "I called the surf shop to see if they could fax over his insurance information and maybe find his emergency contact…well, he has two emergency contacts, one's at sea and the other is dead—it was Gia. He must have never changed his contacts when all that stuff went down. The staff finally relented and gave me some of the information, but I was hoping that Keith might come down and throw his weight around? He knows how to charm his way into getting what he wants," There was a pause as Mac began speaking to someone else for a moment. "Would you have him come down here? I know you're busy with the Madison thing-who, by the way, no one here has seen. I left her picture at the front desk and ER."

"What's your plan then, Mac? You gonna sit with him till he wakes up? " She looked into where her dad sat at his desk. He had hung the phone up and was busily writing something on a legal pad. "I'm sure Dad would be glad to help out. Where should he meet you?"

"He's in the exam room four in the ER, but they said he's stable and they need to move him. I can't leave him like this, all alone. The staff at his shop can't come down…" Mac hesitated, "so yeah, I guess I need the day off."

"You're taking the day off. For Dick Casablancas." Veronica couldn't even form the words into a question. "If I were there I would just leave him. Unidentified."

Mac chuckled lightly. "Sound as tough as you want, but you would be holding his hand, too, and you know it. You're a marshmallow."

* * *

While Keith went to County to meet Mac, Veronica kept plugging away with the Sinclair Case. She hated thinking about how she was going to tell Logan about Dick, so she set that problem aside for the afternoon. She had been able to finish up most of the other open, pressing cases that morning, and this afternoon was dedicated to finding and following leads regarding Madison.

The list of friends that Mrs. Sinclair had given her made her wince with dread. Many of them were high school besties, like Shelley Pomroy. No boyfriends at present, but she had broken up with a Patrick Muldoon about two months previous. According to what Elizabeth had said, Madison only saw Shelley about once a month and so Veronica felt justified in putting that interview off for a while. She made a few phone calls, and then headed out.

Her first stop was Madison's apartment. Mrs. Sinclair had dropped a key off that morning before she had gotten to the office, telling her dad that she wanted Veronica to go there to see if she saw anything strange. The complex seemed quiet, and as Veronica parked and headed up the steps to the front door of the building, she noticed how at even two in the afternoon, there seemed to be a lot of people milling about. Certainly someone would have seen _something_ on Wednesday if it had happened here. She let herself in, heading down the hall and stopping at apartment 16A, mentally preparing herself to come face to face with Madison as she knocked.

That didn't happen, however, and so as Veronica looked up and down the hallway, she pulled the key from her pocket and let herself into Madison Sinclair's living space. She glanced into the living room and kitchen, seeing that they looked relatively normal. She then headed into a hallway and to the bedroom and bathroom, to see if she could spot anything out of the ordinary.

It was hard to tell, since she had never been here before, if there were clothes missing or not, but as she entered the bathroom, she noticed right away that the toothbrush holder was missing the toothbrush, and that there was no makeup or hairbrush to be seen. It looked slightly like Madison had left on a trip of some sort.

Entering the living room again, Veronica circled the couch, looking at the pictures that hung on the wall or sat on end tables. There was a family portrait, Madison the only blond sitting amongst her parents and younger sister. A few pictures taken on vacations: a cruise, Disneyworld, and an exotic beach location. Nothing out of the ordinary. The drapes to the sliding glass door were shut so she went to see if it was locked, looking out to where she could see the road that she had turned off and into the parking lot. Mrs. Sinclair must have seen that Madison's apartment lights were off when she had pulled in from the road.

She roamed over to the bar that divided the kitchen from the living room. She thumbed through a stack of mail, taking note of what was there. She opened the fridge; saw a half gallon of milk, fresh produce, and leftovers in containers. It was a little odd that someone going on a trip would leave food to spoil unless planning to return soon. Looking in garbage, she saw that it had yet to be emptied, which was peculiar, also, but Veronica wondered if there was a maid that might come in. Certainly, growing up, Madison had hardly done manual labor such as taking out the trash or doing dishes, which were also stacked in the sink.

A little disappointed, she let herself out of the apartment, pulling out her phone to call Mrs. Sinclair. Stepping out into the fresh air, she put the phone to her ear, waiting for Elizabeth to answer. As soon as Veronica heard her voice, she greeted her and then reported what she had found.

"So you found a bit of evidence supporting that Madison might have left on a short trip?"

Veronica pulled on her sunglasses, squinting into the sun light as she answered, "Yes, and not much else. Do you know if a maid comes in to clean?"

"She has a maid service, but it's not every week. I'll look into it and get back to you," Mrs. Sinclair promised.

" There seems to be a lot of neighbors home right now, so I'm going to ask around and see if they have any information. Thanks for the access into her apartment. I'll keep you posted." As she hung up, she noticed a car pull into the space marked 17A, so she waited as a young woman with bright red hair to get out and make her way towards the apartment, her arms full of grocery bags. Veronica sidled up next to her. "Hey, you look like you could use a little help! Can I take one of those?"

The woman looked at her in obvious appreciation. "Please! That would be great!"

As they juggled the bags, they kept in step with each other, closer to the entrance, and Veronica quickly opened the door with her free hand. "Which door is yours?" She asked, even though she knew. No need to alarm an innocent with too much personal information, however.

"Just that one, up there on your left, 17A," the woman had her key already out so when they got to the door, she had it unlocked and opened in less than a minute, "Just this way." She motioned Veronica to follow her into a cookie cutter replica of Madison's across the hall. "I'm Katie, by the way."

"Veronica." She followed Katie into the kitchen, where they set the groceries on the kitchen counter. "Wow, you live right across the hall from Madison!"

Katie paused as she began to unpack the groceries. "Oh, yeah…I guess I do." She turned quickly to put the eggs and milk into the fridge. "You're friends with Madison? I haven't seen you around."

"Well, it's been a while. We knew each other way back when, you know? Anyway, I found her on Facebook! She told me to look her up if I came back to Neptune and here I am!" Veronica leaned back against the counter. "I wanted to surprise her, so I stopped by the fitness center, you know where she works? She wasn't there so I thought I would try here." She made a disappointed face, "It doesn't look like she's here though, either."

Katie looked back at her, "No, I wouldn't suppose she would be. I ran into her earlier this week and she said she was heading out for the weekend. You probably should have called first."

Veronica's ears perked up and she tried to not seem too eager as she asked, "When was that?" Seeing the expression on Katie's face, Veronica quickly added, "We Facebooked the end of last week and she talked about how she was teaching classes all this week and was looking forward to a big birthday bash for our friend, Shelley, tomorrow night. That's why I'm in town, actually." She grinned, laying it on thick, "The big three-oh, at the 09er! I've only heard about that place, I can't wait!"

Shutting a cupboard, Katie stopped and turned to look at her. "I think it was Wednesday morning, actually. I go to the Community College and was headed to my accounting class when I ran into her in the hallway."

"Huh. Well, I wonder where she went. I wouldn't have thought she'd miss Shelley's party for anything." Her eyes widened and she smiled conspiringly. "Maybe she has a secret man, huh?"

Katie crinkled her nose. "I don't know anything about Shelley's party, or a new guy, but Madison doesn't tell me much of anything." She rolled her eyes. "Madison and I don't really run in the same circles."

_Huh, well, welcome to the club._ "Oh, well. That's too bad." She looked at her watch, feigning surprise. "Oh, wow, I've got to go! Hey, if you see anyone around here looking for her, would you mind texting or calling me?" Grabbing a pen and paper from her bag, she wrote her number down and then stuck it to Katie's fridge with a magnet. "I really would love to see her before I leave next week. You said she said weekend, huh? Maybe I'll try back Monday."

* * *

Veronica left the building ten minutes later, eyeing the parking lot. Her time with Katie had caused everyone to disappear that had been out just an hour ago. She stopped at the guard shack, where the guard had been forewarned by the Madison's parents that she would be stopping, to request a copy of the recorded times of cars in and out of the facility from Wednesday at noon till Thursday night.

With that complete, she headed to the restaurant where Mrs. Sinclair had last seen Madison. She interviewed the wait staff, with enough just enough time to get to The Ten Gym or The Ten, as everyone called it, where Madison had her classes. She rushed in at four-thirty and went straight to the check in desk.

"Hi!" She said cheerily to the woman behind the desk, who was dressed in a tight black spandex track suit, showing an absurd amount of cleavage, with a name tag that read 'Candy' pinned at her chest. "Wow, so I'm like, supposed to do some," she air quoted, "'research' about the Pole Class thing for my boss, she's too embarrassed to try it out herself." She rolled her eyes. "I think she wants to impress her man, if you know what I mean." Pulling out her wallet, she asked, "Is there any way I can just pay for the class just for tonight so she doesn't fire me tomorrow?"

Candy pulled out a form and thrust it at her. "We just need you fill this out and sign at the bottom that states that your liable for your own injuries, and the cost is at the bottom of the form."

"Oh, of course." As Veronica began to write, "So I've heard this instructor is_ phenomenal! _Have you ever taken the class?" She handed over cash, grateful she had had time to stop at an ATM on the way over. The Ten took a lot of pride in their classes.

"Well, actually, tonight we have a substitute instructing _Vertical Limit_." She handed back Veronica's change. "But I assure you it will be just as much of a workout." Candy leaned forward to whisper, "And hopefully you have a boy toy at home, because trust me, you'll want to try out the moves later. It will impress him, for sure." She winked.

Veronica's smile froze, her thoughts going to Logan for a moment, how his brown eyes would darken at the thought of her _pole_ dancing. She felt a secret smile play at her lips, looking forward to the time when she had the chance to show and tell. "Well, I'll have to pay attention then."

* * *

The class was small, less than ten women, so Veronicafound an empty pole and stood there, a little unsure. The woman next to her was a bottled-blond, wearing short designer hot shorts that were cinched at the sides, with a only a sports bra to contain her special-ordered breasts. Veronica felt a little awkward in her normal workout wear, black capris and a tank. Apparently you were supposed to dress like a stripper to use the poles here at The Ten.

The woman smiled at her, and Veronica took the bait, saying, "Hi! I'm Amber! This is my first _Vertical Limit _class. What about you?"

The woman looked her up and down. "I see that." She turned to face the front, stretching her legs and arms. "I've been coming here for a while, since Madison started the course. I love it. Gets my heart rate up, keeps my abs from drab."

"Well," Veronica eyed her, "you have _nothing_ to worry about in that department." She looked up to the front. "So you like the instructor, what did you say her name was, Michelle?"

"Madison." Just then, another woman came in, heading to the front of the class to face them. The woman next to Veronica grunted in dismay. "Looks like she's not here again, though."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, Wednesday we get here, and apparently Madison didn't cancel the class until ten to five, so we were all here and waiting while they looked for a replacement." She gestured to the new instructor. "Nancy here ended up last minute doing the class, but she is so not as good as Madison. I just ended up doing my own workout."

Veronica widened her eyes. "What was her excuse for not being here?"

"They said she was sick I guess."

"Huh. Is that normal, her missing? I mean, twice in row, is that like her?"

"She _never _misses. I mean, I've seen when they've forced her to go home when she's sick, but never by her own choice."

_Interesting._

"Ladies!" The instructor in the front clapped her hands to get their attention. "I'm Nancy and I will be your instructor this evening. Everyone to your poles!"

Veronica watched uncertainly as the women around her approached their poles and began their workout. Feeling a little like a fish out of water, Veronica gamely began copying their moves, gyrating and swinging to the music.

"Okay, everyone, crucifix climb!" Nancy called out, as hooked her leg around her pole and began to pull herself up to the top of it, "and hold!" After a few seconds, "and slide out of it!"

The routine went on like this for the next fifty minutes while Veronica tried desperately to keep up. The moves were unfamiliar but a little empowering, even though she missed half of them. Soon it was time for cool down and everyone was packing their bags up to leave.

Waiting until most of the class had left the room, she approached Nancy, who was busily packing up her own bag. "So that was great! Thank you so much! This was my first time."

"Ah, a Vertical Virgin, huh?" Quickly glancing at her, Nancy kept her attention on her chore. "You did really well for your first time."

"You must not have been watching very closely." Veronica grinned, "I think I fell off the pole four times. Now I know why they made me sign the release form. So, I was wondering if I sign up permanently for this class if you're the instructor. The ladies around me made it sound like maybe not."

Nancy slung her bag over her shoulder. "I'm just here for tonight, actually. Madison is the regular instructor for _Vertical Limit. _I teach the Zumba and spinning classes regularly."

"That's too bad! So she'll be back at Monday's class? I might have to try her class out and see what the differences are."

"You might want to call ahead on Monday, she's taking an undetermined leave of personal time. If you want to get a real feel of what her classes are like, having us substituting won't tell you a lot. We all teach it a little differently. And Madison's….intense. I am more of a beginner instructor in Cardio Pole."

Veronica blinked. How much more intense could it get? "Maybe I should stick with Jane Fonda," she quipped weakly. "But really, undetermined personal time? Man, I wish my job would let me just take whatever time I needed off. Doesn't the management care?"

Nancy rolled her eyes and leaned in close to Veronica, saying softly "Management doesn't care because Madison's dating the owner's son, Mark. She gets to do whatever she wants." Straightening up, she continued, "But you didn't hear that from me. Word is we're all going to be working extra classes till she gets back, though, taking over her classes as we can." With that, Nancy pointedly looked at the time. "I have to get going. Hopefully see you around!"

* * *

Later that night, Veronica sat at her desk at the apartment, going over the information that she had gathered that day. She felt confident that she was getting somewhere with it all.

It was looking like Madison had just left on a secret romantic getaway with her newest lover, Mark. No one apparently knew about him, which supported the theory that it a secret trip. The question was why and where. Why was it a secret to her family, and not her coworkers? And where did she go?

As she was mulling over these questions, her phone rang. She checked it and saw that it was her dad and she answered it quickly, "Hi, how is it going?"

"It's all good news, honey;" he started right away, "First of all, we're still at County. Dick woke up about an hour ago, mad as hell. Seeing us there calmed him some, but it was interesting for a while. Tore all the tubes right out of his skin and throat."

She gasped. "That's good news?"

"Well, they were going to take the tube out anyway, so it's…okay news, I guess. And they're working on releasing him, so there's that. But you know how long that can take."

Leaning back in her chair, she asked, "Have you been there all day, too?"

"No, I came back to bring Mac some supper, and as we were coming back to the room he woke up, so I've been here most of the evening. " He hesitated. "Don't you have a key to Dick's beach house? Mac was wondering if you would go over and pick some clothes up so he doesn't have to leave here wearing only a hospital gown. All that's left from last night it a cut-open wet suit."

"Oh, yeah, I bet so. Logan gave me a key to the house with the set of car keys I have, so yeah, I can go grab Dick some clothes. I'll have to bleach my hands afterwards though." Checking the time, she replied, "I'll leave right now and be to County probably in an hour and a half."

* * *

**A/N: Next chapter will flash back to Dick awakening and realizing who is there, Mac's POV.**

**I really hope you like where this is going! Thank you for all the reviews, follows, favorites, and encouragement! I am super excited about this story, I love all the input you are all giving me. Thanks again! By the way, all your reviews make me work even harder. I hope I am not disappointing expectations, I want to know if I am. Throw me a line if you have the time!  
**


	5. Chapter 5 Being Dealt In

**A/N: This chapter was a little bit...I don't know...interesting to get Dick's voice, I mean, he's great and all, but he is so sarcastic that I think his dialogue may be my weakest link, because I don't know if I can get it quite right. I didn't play him over-emotional, those scenes will be in future chapters between MaDi. Hopefully you all enjoy this! For me, Veronica never liked Dick, _ever,_ so I am not letting either off lightly with that, and Mac is aware of that, of course. **

Mac shifted in her chair uncomfortably. She was waiting outside of Dick's hospital room while the doctors performed their last examination on him before they signed the release form to let him go home. Worn out, Mac was wishing for a real chance to sleep. The night before had not been a restful one, and fighting with the hospital staff all day had just about been all she could take. But it wasn't looking like rest would be on the agenda anytime soon.

Keith had come right after she had called, playing tough and impatient just like she had hoped. He had been able to work his magic, and soon the staff became more forthcoming about Dick's situation. The best news had come when the admitting doctor had come to tell them that with most cases of alcohol poisoning, the patient was released within 24 hours, so there was no real reason to move him out of County. Dick was improving as expected, and once he woke up they would set to work releasing him.

Before too long, the staff had moved Dick up to the third floor, where Mac made sure he got a private room. Keith had left once Dick was settled, promising to be back later with food. After he had left, Mac had run down to the gift shop to grab a book, planning to spend the remainder of her day sitting in an uncomfortable chair next to Dick's bedside.

It had felt strange, being with Dick for such a long period of time, especially with no snarky or obnoxious comments from him. The only noise in the room was the beeping of the various machines hooked to him, which had been disturbing, so before too long, Mac had turned the television on just for white noise.

When that hadn't help, Mac firmly shut her book, turned the TV off and looked at Dick, still unconscious. She took in all the lines in his face, at the stitched eyebrow, the fat lip. Her hand had grasped his, holding on to it tightly, the other hand running lightly up and down his arm.

"What happened to you, Dick?" She had whispered. "This has to be about Cassidy. Why couldn't you find somewhere safer to be?" She had let the words flow, more cathartic for her than anything about Dick. "Last night, I wanted to get wasted, too. I bet you don't believe that, do you? Just…June third is always a hard day for me. June itself is a hard month anyway. I always get thinking about what Cassidy was to me and what he became to everyone else. It's hard to reconcile mourning the loss of someone everyone else hates. It's so tempting to just not be anything for a while. To not think and not have to worry….to not explain why it hurts so much. No one understands it, do they? Not even your best friend! Because that's who he hurt the most!" She had felt tears begin to stream down her face. "We should have talked about it, you and me, you know that? We should be dealing with his damn ghost together!"

Interrupted then by a nurse, Mac had gratefully left the room, walking around the third floor hallways, her mind racing. She eventually had come back, picked her book up and read until Keith had shown up with a bag of take-out.

They had taken the food outside to the courtyard, quickly eating and heading back to Dick's floor. As they rounded the corner from the elevator, they had heard a commotion coming from within his room. One look to each other and they had both been rushing down the hallway and into Dick's room where three male were nurses attempting to restrain him in his hospital bed.

She and Keith watched as Dick seemed to overpower the nurses attempt to keep him in his bed, pushing himself up and over the edge, standing up on wobbly legs, a feral look in his eyes as he had grabbed at all the wires attached to his body and started to viciously pull them off. He had already ripped the tube out of his throat, and it lay limp on the floor beside his feet.

"Dick, calm down!" Mac had yelled, stepping further into the room.

The sound of her voice had stopped him; his casted hand hesitating as it hovered over where the IV was inserted in the opposite arm. Immediately, his had eyes found hers, widening slightly, and he had sat back onto the bed, where the nurses quickly went to work on him. His eyes never left hers as the nurses had finished their job and then quietly left with a silent thank you from their lips as they had passed her.

She and Keith had come nearer to the bed, Keith urging, "Dick, why don't you lay back down and relax on the bed, we can adjust it so you're sitting up." Dick had relented, letting Keith find the remote to adjust the bed into a better sitting position.

When he had finally seemed comfortable, Keith sat at the end of the bed and Mac sat in the chair she had been using all afternoon. Looking between the two of them, Dick had asked, his voice raspy, "What happened to me?"

Keith had leaned over to where a rolling table sat with a water jug and offered it to Dick, who took it gratefully and drank thirstily through the straw, a slight grimace on his face. As he had placed it back on the table, Keith had said, "We've been hoping to ask you the same thing, actually, Dick."

Keith had then explained what they knew, about his injuries and how he had been found on the beach, passed out. "You had no ID on your person, so they brought you here."

Dick had looked confused. "How the hell did you find me, then?"

Mac had spoken then, explaining, "I was at the ER for a case, looking for a missing person, and you were their only unidentified person. I was able to identify you." She hadn't really wanted to admit she had sat with him the whole day.

Sympathetically, Keith had asked, "Do you remember anything before you passed out last night?"

Twisting in the bed, Dick had closed his eyes, concentrating. "Uh, yeah, I locked up the shop like I usually do at five and left there, headed home. Grabbed my gear and uh…." He had sat up, looking uncomfortable, shooting a quick look at Mac. "I'm not real sure from then on."

Chewing her lip, Mac had watched him closely. "Dick," she'd said softly, "are you sure you don't remember? You were found at some beach more than ten miles from your place, which has plenty of beach from your back door. There was no feasible reason that any of us could come up with that puts you at a different beach than your own."

His blue eyes had swung open to glare at her. "No feasible answer, huh? That figures."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She'd asked defensively, crossing her arms.

"You know exactly what that means." The forcefulness of his words had caused him to start coughing uncontrollably, his eyes watering in his struggle. Keith again had handed him the water jug.

Before they could continue, the rotating doctor had come in to look at his patient and kicked the two non-patients out into the hallway. As he did, the doctor had told them that with any luck, he would be releasing Dick later in the evening.

Keith had been quiet for a few minutes, pacing back and forth while they waited. Finally, he turned to Mac and said, "What's going on between you two? I thought you didn't really know Dick?"

Shaking her head, she had answered, "I don't, not really. But…it's complicated, I guess."

"Does it have something to do with Cassidy Casablancas?" Keith had ventured tentatively.

Staring at her shoe, Mac had given a slight nod. "I think so, yes." Then she had cleared her throat, looked up and given him a cheery smile. "Did you hear the doctor though? They will probably be releasing him tonight. That's good news. I wonder how he'll feel leaving in an ass-less gown."

Keith had humored her and let it drop. "By the look of it, I'm thinking he won't be impressed."

"Maybe you should call and see if Veronica can pick up some clothes at his place. I think she has a key."

* * *

Now, sitting, waiting in the hall as the doctor to complete his exam, Mac watched as Veronica rounded the corner from the elevator and approached her with a bag full of what she knew to be Dick's clothes.

Smiling, Veronica stopped in front of her and cast her a long look. "You remind me of 'The Thinker'. Really, how long have you been sitting like that? You'll turn to stone soon." She set the bag down at her feet. "Remind me to never root around Dick's clothes again. As enlightening as the 'I pooped today!' t-shirt was, I found the lesser of the many evils in his closet," She leaned down and pulled out a gray t-shirt that said 'I'm disguised as an adult!' slapped across it. "My choices were limited."

"Nice." Mac took the bag and stuffed the shirt back into it. "I think they're releasing him soon. Thanks for bringing this."

"Where's Dad at?"

"He got a call and went down to the waiting room to take it. The nurses were giving him dirty looks. He should be back soon." She stood up to stretch her back. "How did the case go today? Any luck with Madison?"

Mac listened with interest as Veronica filled her in about her day, laughing hard as she explained _The Vertical Limit_ class. "Sounds like a productive enough day."

"Yeah, tell that to my thighs in the morning." Veronica grimaced, "and quite possibly my whole body. Wow."

The door to Dick's hospital room opened and the doctor stepped out, nodding at them, saying, "You're welcome to go on in. I've signed the discharge forms, but he needs to come back in three days to see me, or else his general practitioner for a checkup and to remove the stitches. It's imperative that he stay away from alcohol. He should _not_ be left alone." The doctor looked sharply at both of them. "Does he have someone that can stay with him for the next week or two?"

Mac's eyes flew to Veronica, who was having a deer in the headlights moment. Two weeks?! For some reason, it hadn't really occurred to Mac to wonder what would happen once Dick was released, only that she couldn't leave him alone in this crappy hospital. She couldn't imagine anyone having to take care of him for two solid weeks, let alone herself. _No thank you._

Keith was suddenly next to them, having appeared from seemingly nowhere. He gave the doctor a smile. "I'm sure between all of us, we can help Mr. Casablancas out for a while. He has the resources to hire a nurse if need be."

* * *

As soon as the doctor had excused himself, Keith had let himself into Dick's room with the bag of clothes, leaving the two women to discuss the pending situation.

"I'm sorry, but there is no way that I am taking care of Dick. I don't care how close he and Logan are, he is not _my _BFF. I never signed onto diaper duty for Richard Casablancas." Veronica was talking faster than normal, pacing up and down the hall. "He has money, he's lucid, we can help him find a live-in and that's it. That's all I'm going to take responsibility for."

"What other options do we have, though, especially right now? It's too late to arrange care for him tonight, he'll have to come home with us or one us will need to stay at his place with him." Mac leaned back against the hallway's wall.

Turning to face her, Veronica shook her head hard. "No. You can't make me."

"Well, I won't make you." Blowing out a sigh, Mac made a face, "_After_ tonight." Sensing that Veronica was about to interrupt her, Mac held her hand up and said, "Just listen. He can't go back to his place; I expect he'd know where all the alcohol is there. He probably has it hidden in his sock drawer or something. I am not in the mood to purge that place right now. He's going to either have to go to our apartment or your dad's for the night, and Keith told me he has to fly out early for that fraud case. In the morning I'll do some research and see if I can find someone to stay with him."

Veronica looked like she wanted to protest, but just then, the door opened and Keith emerged motioning them inside the room. Following his gesture, they entered to see Dick dressed, sitting at the edge of the bed, slowly slipping his shoes on his feet.

Looking up, Dick said hoarsely, "Glad Logan gave you my key; he must have sensed you would need it. Doc told me I can't go home alone tonight. Which one of you lovely ladies won the Dickster for the night?"

Keith audibly sighed and Veronica started to speak, but Mac interrupted to say, "We played two out of three Rock, Paper, Scissors and I lost, so you get me. Yay." She cocked her head. "Play your cards right, you'll probably get us both." She saw his eyes flick in surprised interest, which made Mac second guess why she was playing this game. She could almost see Veronica's open-mouthed gawk in protest. Quickly backpedaling, she amended, "Actually, you do get us both, because you're coming home with us and staying on our couch for the night." She could feel Veronica stiffen beside her. "Tomorrow I'll help you find a live-in nurse. You can afford it."

"What if I don't want a nurse?" Dick asked petulantly.

Rolling her eyes, Mac replied, "You still get a nurse."

* * *

The staff insisted that Dick had to be wheel-chaired out of the hospital because it was procedure. So while Keith stayed with Dick, she and Veronica had left to pull Mac's car around to the loading zone to meet them.

In the elevator, Veronica turned to give Mac a hard look. "What was that about, Mac?"

Keeping her eyes up on the numbers slowly lighting showing their descent, Mac murmured, "Whatever do you mean?"

Veronica grunted. "That little 'play your cards right' thing. If I didn't know better, I would say you were flirting with that _tool." _She folded her arms in disgust.

Taking a deep breath, Mac dared to look at her. "Relax. I didn't mean anything by it. He's just… _Dick, _you know? You gotta play by his rules sometimes." The look on Veronica's face made her laugh. "I won't do it anymore. I promise. He just needed to not be on the defensive, and the best way is to joke along with him. Besides, there is no way that he can beat you at cards. You have nothing to worry about."

The elevator binged and the door opened, and as Veronica passed her to exit, she said under her breath, "But I don't think _I_ was dealt into the game."

* * *

Dick had ended up in Mac's car by default. Keith had to go straight home to pack for his trip and Veronica protested loudly about being in a confined space for more than three minutes alone with Dick. Therefore, it was Mac's front seat that Dick slid into with a groan.

As they headed toward the apartment, Dick began flipping through the radio stations, grumbling, "Nothing decent on poor man's waves."

"Hey, I can still strap you to the roof of the car, so I'd watch my mouth if I were you."

Under his breath, Dick replied, "Yeah, I'd like to see you try."

Flipping her blinker, Mac said forcefully, "And you might be surprised."

Dick leaned back and turned to look at her. "I might not be."

She bit back the retort on her lips when she glanced at him, his appreciative gaze lingering at her breasts. Her pulse was suddenly at her throat, beating wildly for some idiotic reason. Focusing on the road, she chose to ignore his last comment and changed the subject. "Tomorrow, I'll take you over to your place and help you find a nurse. Although…" Her thoughts jumped to the realization that it was the weekend, "I wonder how hard it will be to find someone on a Saturday. Shit."

Dick laughed lightly, now looking out the window. "You'd think I'd timed this little incident to get more time with you." He fidgeted with the cast on his arm. "A little private time in the _Ghost World_."

"Shut up." Mac felt her patience waning. "You don't know anything about me, Dick. You never did. Just keep your stupid comments to yourself and we will get along just fine."

Scrunching up his face, Dick said rudely, "_Pretty_ sure I know _something_ about you."

She glared at him. "Enough." She wasn't sure why she was letting him rile her. Mac knew that this was a great time to ask about what happened to him last night, but she wasn't ready for whom that conversation would ultimately lead to. "Maybe we should just not talk."

The rest of the ride was comment free, and when they arrived to the apartment, she came around to help him out, but he had already gotten the door open and was halfway out before she got there. Shrugging, she stepped ahead of him to let him follow her.

"Veronica had to stop at the pharmacy to grab your prescriptions, so she might be a while." Mac told him as she unlocked the door. Stepping in, she flipped the light on and motioned him to come in. "Be it ever so humble."

"I'm impressed, Mackie. Nice digs." Dick tromped in and made his way to toward the living room couch. "For an 08er, this apartment has some class."

Shutting the door, Mac pulled her shoes off and followed him, helping him situate himself within the cushions and pillows. Feeling a little like she was fawning over him, she pulled back and told him, "I'm gonna go change. Then we can settle you in my room."

Dick's eyebrows quirked and a quick smile touched his lips. "I knew I'd wear you down."

"Oh, is that what you were doing?" Mac headed for her door, "Maybe you need more practice. We don't have a hide-a-bed and this couch is super uncomfortable. You're sleeping in my room _alone."_

* * *

When Mac emerged from her room twenty minutes later, Veronica had arrived and was sitting down across from Dick in a lounge chair, eyeing him uncertainly. Dick had found the remote to the television and was watching an old rerun of _SNL_, studiously ignoring Veronica's stare.

She seemed content with that until about five minutes in, Veronica leaned over and shut the TV off with the remote that sat on the coffee table.

"Hey! I was watching that!" Dick protested, finally looking at her. "What's your problem?"

"We need to talk." Veronica glanced at Mac, nodding at her to sit down. "I'm a little concerned about what happened last night, Dick." She kept speaking as Dick tried to interrupt her, "I don't care 'why it happened'," she air-quoted, "we can get to that some other time. Or tell it to your therapist. Whatever. It really doesn't matter to me. What I'm worried about is where your car's at. It wasn't at the beach house when I stopped tonight. So that means you drove it somewhere. If it was left at the beach, by now it would have been impounded, and I had Norris check to see; it hasn't been yet." She looked meaningfully at his injuries, "I think you got robbed."

"Robbed?" Mac repeated, hollowly.

Dick looked between the two of them. "Why would you think that?"

Veronica motioned toward Dick's arm and face, "Those injuries are not consistent with a fall on the beach. Your fat lip and black eye, stitches…that's all consistent with a fist fight. And your arm easily could have been broken if it was an ambush."

Dick guffawed. "Me, lose a fight? These fists have won wars, baby." He flexed his fingers, grimacing in pain. "Okay, you might have a point."

Mac frowned. "But what about the alcohol poisoning? Certainly you're not suggesting that these robbers plied him with alcohol first."

For the first time, Veronica looked slightly uncomfortable. "No, I think his inebriated state made him an easy target." Clearing her throat, she went on, "When you got to the beach, you were probably already drunk, right? Someone looking for a mark would have seen how you were acting and just bided their time until the opportunity arose to rob you and take your car, leaving you abandoned at the beach. I want to find those kids that called into report you passed out and find out if they saw anything."

"That was an anonymous called; I asked the front desk at the ER." Mac reminded her.

"Yeah, but I think if we hang around long enough at that beach, someone will talk. We'll find them."

"Well," Mac said as if to remind her, "You're working on the Mad—" she caught herself, "on your case, Keith is leaving on the fraud case, and I have to babysit Dick. When do you propose one of us will have time to hang out at the beach?"

Smiling, Veronica said, "It just so happens that Wallace has the day off tomorrow. I'll just give him a jingle and see if he wants to go for a swim." Glancing at the time, she said, "It's late and you need rest, Dick, so in the morning, I think you should call the police and report your car stolen first thing. Your wallet was probably in there, right?" When he nodded, she continued, "You're going to want to put alerts on your bank accounts and things also."

Mac stood and motioned at Dick to stand. As he did so, she went to where Veronica had set the bag of prescriptions down, pulled out two pain pills and found a bottle of water in the fridge. She returned to lead Dick into her room.

"The sheets are clean. I changed them just now, hopefully it doesn't get too hot in here for you." Nervous energy was causing her to blab, "The morning sun can get intense even with the blinds closed. How late do you want to sleep? I can take you to your place anytime in the morn—"

"Easy, Mackster," Dick interrupted, "I don't mind a little heat in the sheets—I actually prefer it." She felt her face warm at his unabashed words, "I have no plans in the morning, I'll just get up when I get up…but if you're really that worried you can always join me to make sure I'm all right. After all, you did win me fair and square, right? No need to waste the opportunity."

As he made his way toward the bed, he brushed past her, lightly touching his arm into her body, causing a shiver to run down spine. When she caught the cocky grin he cast over his shoulder, she openly rolled her eyes. "What a temptation." But as the words left her mouth, Dick began peeling his shirt off, discarding it quickly as his hands fumbled with the snap off his jeans. Mac mouth went dry as she stood and watched him struggle.

He caught her eye and grinned, uncomfortable. "Yeah, uh, V's dad had to help a little. She maybe should have brought sweats." He waggled his eyebrows at her. "You wouldn't mind helping a guy out?"

Mortified, Mac backed up toward the open door and shook her head, weakly saying, "Uh, you're going to have to handle that one yourself, sorry. See you in the morning."

Stepping into the kitchen where Veronica was getting the coffee ready for the morning, Mac sat heavily into a kitchen chair and sighed loudly. "Dick Casablancas is a pain in my ass."

Veronica paused as she scooped coffee grounds into the filter, studying her. "Join the club." Thoughtfully, she remarked, "I seem to be the spokeswoman for a lot of clubs these days."

Mac grimaced, unamused. "I mean it. Every five seconds it's some sexual innuendo. And the worst part? Oh, the worst part is that my damn body betrays me. I haven't had a man in so long that my body sees the first naked man in my room in months…possibly _years_…and it goes into visual overload."

Veronica came and sat down across from Mac, a sober look in her eye. "You can't be serious."

"Don't judge me, you have a _man, _and more recently, said man probably did a strip tease for you over the airwaves." As Veronica started to object, Mac shook her head, "Come on, you know it's true. You can get off digitally any old time, thanks to your loverboy."

"And your point is?"

"My point is, it's only natural, right?" She ran her fingers through her short-cropped hair. "I mean, I wouldn't be a woman if I didn't look, right?" She met Veronica's eyes, a little desperately, "He's naked in _my _bed. Words of wisdom, oh wise one. And…_go._"

Sitting back in her chair, Veronica clasped her hands together and said, "It's Dick Casablancas, Mac." She shrugged her shoulders. "That's all I got."

Nodding Mac replied, "Okay, I got your point. Very wise. Can I sleep on the floor in your room, though, just to be safe?"

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so thanks for reading! Reviews are always welcome, they quite literally make my day. There is lots more of the Madison mystery coming up, I have just nailed down exactly where I am going with that and am anxious to get it into words. Thank you thank you thank you for the reviews, comments, favorites, and follows. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6 Understanding the Familiar

**A/N: This chapter turned out pretty long. Both Veronica and Mac's POV in this one. I hope you enjoy this! Comments are welcome and make me work faster. I couldn't quit writing this one.**

The morning light woke Veronica up first, streaming onto her face in a sudden bright burst. This was the way she preferred to wake on the weekends instead of an alarm. Rolling over, she looked down to where Mac slept on the ground below her. "Rise and shine, sleepyhead."

Groaning, Mac buried her head into her pillow, "Not yet."

"Sorry, but the day waits for no one. I'm going to make enough noise as a herd of elephants, so you might as well get up, too." Veronica sat up and stretched. "I need a shower."

"Me too, and all my stuff is still in my bathroom. Lovely." Mac flopped onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. "Did you get a hold of Wallace last night? Or does he even know what he's already roped into doing?"

"Roped into? He never feels that way, does he?" Veronica shrugged. "He's missed helping out for so long, I know he's a go." Glancing down at Mac, Veronica asked, "What are _your_ plans for the day?"

Standing, Mac replied, "First off, I am having coffee. Second, I suppose I better get the Dickster up and going for the day. I was going to run him to his place, and probably help look into finding a nurse or something. Maybe help him with reporting his car and wallet stolen. It's going to take all morning I'm sure." Blowing out a sigh, she stood and headed toward the hallway, "I wonder how he fared in the night."

Veronica padded after her, passing her when Mac stopped at her room's closed door. "I'll get the coffee going. I suppose I should call Mrs. Sinclair. I have some questions for her. Working on weekends is not my idea of fun."

"Yeah, right. You just came back to Neptune for the ambiance. I always figured that you would come back for that. Your cases are just a necessary evil that helps you get through because you have no other alternative in life."

"Hey!" Veronica called out, starting the coffee pot. "It's a proven fact that newbies at law firms have no weekends to call their own. I spared myself."

She heard Mac knock on the bedroom door and a muffled _"Come in!" _as Mac pushed her way through the door. Veronica strolled nearer to the hallway, listening in on the conversation in Mac's room.

"Hey, Mackie! You have some sweet dreams?"

There was shuffling with drawers being opened and shut, then Veronica heard a sharp retort that she couldn't quite make out, and soon Mac was backing out of the room, saying, "Get dressed and I'll take you to your place."

Shutting the door, Mac turned to grimace at Veronica. "This is going to be the longest day ever."

* * *

After Dick was dressed and fed, the group split ways. Mac and Dick headed to the beach house and Veronica headed to the office, where she had arranged to have Wallace meet her and then later, Mrs. Sinclair.

By the time she arrived, Wallace was already there, sitting at the step of the entrance to the building. He grinned as he saw her drive up, and stood to greet her. "I have a feeling this isn't a social call you've requested."

Finding the building's key on her key chain, Veronica began unlocking the door. "Now, Wallace, you know it's always social with me." They ascended the stairs, and she unlocked the MI door, flipping the lights on as they both stepped inside. "However, I do have a side of sleuthing I needed to see if you might be interested in."

"Yup, I knew it." Rubbing his hands together, Wallace had a mischievous gleam spark in his eye. "What do we have? Flower delivery, bait and switch? Bump and drop?"

"And Mac said you didn't want to be roped in." Grinning, Veronica sat down at her computer and booted it up. "So, what I have is this: Dick Casablancas was admitted into the hospital yesterday morning for alcohol poisoning and additional injuries. He had been found at Moonlight Beach early morning, I'm talking one or so, passed out in his own vomit, and an anonymous call led the EMT's there to pick him up. There was no police report, for which is strange in itself, but its Lamb's call, so we can assume that's the reason why. This is the problem: Moonlight Beach is ten miles from Dick's residency, where we know has beach front property right out his door. He was found in a wet suit, which we know is standard gear for surfing, but his car is not parked at his house, or the beach, and it has not been impounded. When he was admitted, the hospital admitted him as a John Doe because he had no ID or wallet on him. His injuries make me believe that he was attacked and robbed."

Wallace had sat down across from her, listening with increased disbelief. "That's pretty awful. What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to go to the beach and hang, see if you can find out some information, see who might have been there on Thursday night. That beach isn't a tourist hotspot; it's all regulars because it's out of the way."

The whole time she had been explaining, Veronica had been online, and now she hit print. As the printer roared to life, it spit out what she had requested. "This is the SUV that Dick drives. I want you to go down there with this picture and a picture of Dick, see what turns up. I have an appointment with a client in about…"Checking the time on her computer, she nodded reluctantly, "forty-five minutes, so if we can get some flyers quick printed out, you can head down there and I can meet you down there later."

Before too long, they had a flyer printed out for Wallace to post on bulletin boards and she had forwarded the same information to his phone. In less than thirty minutes, Wallace was headed out the door and on his way to Moonlight Beach.

Now Veronica sat staring at her computer screen, trying to think of the words to write to Logan about the turn of events since she had last talked to him. She knew he would want to be informed about what had happened to Dick, but it pained her to have to be the one to tell him. She doubted that Dick would impart the news, so it was left to her to do so.

She opened her email and began to type:

_Dear Logan,_

_How is the sea treating you? Hopefully better than the land is treating all of us. We're all okay, alive anyway. It's been kind of a crazy twenty-four hours, and I am just now getting the chance to send you a quick email to catch you up._

_When you reminded me on Thursday about it being ten years, I was worried about Mac and you were worried about Dick, which I guess is how our brains work, worrying for our respective friends. But the good thing about Mac is that if she wouldn't have come home that night, I would have known it. For Dick, however, he has no one that bothers to check in with him when you're not here._

_That's where I'm going with this. Dick. Mac had gone to the hospital, looking for Madison, and ran into an unidentified white male that had been admitted in the night, with alcohol poisoning. He didn't wake up until late last night, so we ended up bringing him to our place for the night and now Mac is dealing with him. She is going to try and find some help for Dick for the next couple of weeks, because the doctors are concerned about his mental state. Plus they don't want him drinking anything for a while._

_I should have checked in on him when you mentioned not having heard from him, but so much other stuff has been going on that I just put it out of my mind. Even though Dick isn't my favorite person, I wish I would have realized I should check in anyway. Mac was having a rough night, so it seems pretty obvious in hindsight that Dick would have also._

_I wish I could just call you, but I know that's impossible right now. Let me know the next time you can Skype and I will make sure I'm available._

_Love,_

_Veronica_

* * *

The door opened just as Veronica pushed send and Elizabeth Sinclair walked in. Veronica stood and greeted her, motioning her into the inner office, where they sat down, Veronica at her desk and Elizabeth across from her.

Organizing her thoughts, Veronica took a deep breath and began with her report. She reviewed what she had discovered the day before, what she had found out at the apartment complex, restaurant, and then paused before she informed Elizabeth about the Ten. "Mrs. Sinclair, I visited The Ten, where Madison works, posing as a client in her _Vertical Limit_ class. No one knew my true motivation for being there, which I often find makes people more forthcoming. Now, I know you said that Madison isn't dating anyone, but according to the substitute instructor, Madison is seeing Mark Tennison, the owner's son. She also says that everyone is taking over Madison's classes, until she returns, because she is taking an undetermined amount of personal time off."

Mrs. Sinclair sat back in her chair, processing this. "I don't understand."

Sighing, Veronica folded her hands together on the desk. "The information that I gathered is looking as if Madison has just taken an extended vacation with a lover." She paused. "Is there a reason why, number one, Madison would choose to not tell you about a new boyfriend, and number two, she wouldn't tell you about an extended vacation?"

Swallowing, Mrs. Sinclair's eyes began darting around the room, blinking rapidly. After a few moments, she met Veronica's eye. "My husband and I….well, I hoped it wouldn't come to this, but it's looking like it is. We…we imparted some family news to Madison about…." She looked up to the ceiling, mentally counting, "Oh, I would say, about three weeks ago. I honestly didn't think it would have anything to do with this, but…but maybe she's just angry with us and…and I don't know, just acting out. She's always had a poor way of reacting to things."

_Ah, so Madison's just being a bitch. Go figure._ Veronica smiled sympathetically. "I understand that some people react poorly to things. But do you truly think that would be enough of a reason for Madison to just disappear? I guess my question is, do you want me to keep looking for her?"

"Well, I didn't think it was enough of a reason. But I do think that if she's mad enough, that she won't call or come home for a while. I don't think there is any reason to involve the police, even though right now according to what Lamb told us last week, it's been long enough." Mrs. Sinclair nodded, coming to a decision. "But I want you to find her. I want to talk to her. Even if The Ten says she'll be back next week, she might just decide to not come back. If that's the case…well, I just want you to find her. She still could be in danger."

"May I ask…about the nature of the news you imparted to Madison?" Veronica felt impelled to ask, even though she had a feeling she knew. "It could be important."

Chewing her bottom lip, the older woman looked beseechingly at Veronica. "It had to do with the fact that Madison is...well, she's basically adopted. She's always pretty much known that, but the nature of her adoption is…atypical to say the least. We just finally told her the truth of it, and it shocked her, I guess. "

"Basically adopted?" Veronica echoed. "What does that even mean?"

"I can't…I can't explain any more than that. It's private, and between all of us. Look," Mrs. Sinclair leaned in towards the desk, "If it looks like that really is the reason why she left, I will tell you everything. But right now, it looks like she's on some little trip with a boyfriend, and until we know a little more, I need to keep this private for now. It's not news that only affects our family, and…and I know that it makes no sense, but I am just unwilling to tell you right now." She stood up, and turned to leave. "If you get me a bill for services rendered thus far, I will pay you right away. But I do want you to continue in the investigation, and I will help in any other way I can. You've done well; take today and tomorrow as a break from this case and if I haven't heard anything by Monday morning, I want you to continue on."

After Mrs. Sinclair left, Veronica stood up, staring out the window down to the outside parking lot, where she watched Elizabeth Sinclair get into her vehicle and leave. She had a feeling that the only reason Elizabeth was unwilling to share the whole truth of that conversation with Madison was because of Mac. Veronica figured the best way for truths to come out was to approach it head on.

Picking up the phone, she dialed Mac.

"Hello?" Mac answered gruffly.

"Hey, Q! How's it hanging?" Veronica sat down and leaned back to stare at the ceiling.

"Babysitting a grown adult is so much more fun in theory." Mac retorted.

"Yeah, that's no fun." She changed the subject, "Hey, so I'm in need of your skills. It's time for the hacker in you to show me what she can do."

Mac's voice distinctly changed with a twinge of interest. "What exactly do you need?"

* * *

The beach house was dark and locked when Dick and Mac had arrived. Dick had found the hidden key and let them in, flipping the lights on and leaving Mac to entertain herself as he had gone into his office to find all the information he needed to cancel credit cards and report his car stolen.

She wandered around, first going into the kitchen, eyeing the multiple bottles of empty beer lining the counter. It seemed like he must have had quite a party Thursday night. She found the garbage under the sink and pulled it out, and started cleaning up the mess as much as she could.

"You're not a maid, you don't need to do that."

He startled her, making her jump and drop a bottle. It clattered loudly as she looked up to see him grinning. "Sorry, I'm jumpy I guess."

He shrugged, "That's fine. Uh, I got these statements and the information on my Land Rover. I was just going to start making some phone calls. I left my cell phone here, by the way, but it's dead. At least I have a land line here for just such occasions." He headed back to the office, and called over his shoulder, "Just relax, Mac. I can call maid service in."

She followed him to where he sat down at a desk inside an office that overlooked the ocean, with windows on two sides. "Wow, I would never leave the office if this was my view."

Dick swiveled in his chair and grinned at her. "That's the beauty of it, I guess. I only leave to surf or go to the shop. I love it."

Mac watched silently as Dick began his phone calls, to the emergency lines of the credit card companies and banks. He was much more professional with the phone calls than she expected, which shouldn't have surprised her so much, considering he owned his own business and was a Casablancas. She recalled the authority in Cassidy's voice at sixteen, and what a wheeler and dealer Mr. Casablancas Sr. had been, making her realize that of course Dick would have inherited some of that confidence and even, dare she say it, charm.

There was an empty desk next to Dick's, facing a blank wall so she took advantage of the space, bringing her laptop in and setting it up, quickly accessing the internet and beginning her search for a live-in nurse. The options looked pretty dismal as she began weeding through them. It didn't take her long to realize she should really contact a health facility that could give them a referral, and the office hours to those facilities were only open Monday through Friday.

Next to her, Dick was laying the charm on thick with whoever was on the other line, his flirty quips making Mac roll her eyes. As she listened, though, she was surprised at how he was getting what he wanted just with a little word play. The person on the other end must have agreed to whatever it was Dick had been after, because he was soon off the phone with a large smile on his lips, and he turned to face her. "Never underestimate any form of flattery. It gets what you want every time."

She felt herself laughing. "Maybe you should take your own advice sometime." She tipped her head, "Did you get all the banks called?"

Nodding, Dick answered, "Yeah, nothing had been charged, as of yet anyway. Now I just need to call the police department and insurance company to report the Land Rover stolen. Wish me luck with Lamb-O." He read her computer screen and scowled, "What are my prospects on the nurse department? Did you find me a short, grumpy old woman named Hilga willing to change my bedpan?"

"Well, you just might be in luck for a few days. I think we should just wait until Monday and talk to the health centers that could give us real referrals. I would be nervous just hiring off of the internet with someone coming into your house. They could rob you blind. We probably should have some sort of contract written up for them to sign." Mac picked up her computer bag and started shuffling through it, not really knowing what she was looking for. It was more to just keep herself busy.

She felt her chair's wheels roll underneath her, and she realized that Dick had pulled his foot out to roll her closer to him, and also to make her look up at him. "Lucky me. How do you feel about that luck?"

His eyes were crystal blue, staring at her. She felt her heart in her throat, and she wondered if he could see it pulsing there. She swallowed. "Luck has nothing to do with it."

He nodded slowly. A slow grin formed at his lips. "We can wait a few days, I'm fine with that." His foot pushed her chair away from him, and suddenly the tension she had been feeling passed. "Roomies with you and Ronnie, huh? Logan will be jealous. Maybe you should just live-in here, Mackie. I'm sure we could find you the nurse outfit to go with the job, to hell with that referral garbage, you've got it covered."

"And give up my nine to five?" Setting the computer bag back on the ground, she stood up and headed toward the door, effectively fleeing. "Now why would I do that? I need some water."

She could hear his soft laughter following her as she stalked down the hallway to the kitchen, realizing as she got there that he was not far behind her. As she opened cupboards looking for a glass, Dick opened the refrigerator and grabbed two bottles of water, handing her one. "You're sure touchy about that, Mac. Do you want to talk about it?"

Opening her mouth to respond, she was interrupted when her phone began to ring. Pulling it from her pocket, she looked down and saw that it was Veronica, so she answered it and headed out of the kitchen, down the hallway and back to the office.

"Hello?" Mac answered gruffly, eyeing the doorway.

"Hey, Q! How's it hanging?"

"Babysitting a grown adult is so much more fun in theory."

"Yeah, that's no fun." Changing the subject, Veronica said, "Hey, so I'm in need of your skills. It's time for the hacker in you to show me what she can do."

Mac felt her interest pique. "What exactly do you need?"

"Well…." Veronica paused, "I just had an interesting conversation with Mrs. Sinclair. I think she told Madison about…your interesting connection with the family. She would only tell me that it had something to do with the fact that Madison was 'basically adopted' and that the adoption was 'atypical.' That when they told Madison whatever it is they told her, she was upset, but that it was three or more weeks ago. I think it's time for us to see some emails and maybe browser history. What do you think?"

"How soon do you need it?"

"Well, Elizabeth told me to wait on the investigation until Monday, so really, it can wait, but it would be great to start on it as soon as possible. Got to make hay while the sun's shining and all that. What's your schedule with Dick?"

Sighing, Mac sat down heavily in her chair. "He got the banks all taken care of, but now he has to report the Land Rover yet. We can do that and then head to the office to meet you. Will you be there for a while?"

"I promised to meet up with Wallace at Moonlight Beach. I can leave the email information and everything I have on your desk, though."

"Ok." With that, they said good bye, and Mac stood back up to go and find Dick.

* * *

He was sitting in the living room, staring out the window, unaware of her approach. Dick was silently running his left hand along the cast on his right arm, his tongue running along the edge of his fattened lip. Muttering something, he stood suddenly, turning towards the hallway and stopping short when he saw her standing at the edge of the hallway.

"Are you all right?" Mac ventured to ask, unsure if she wanted the true answer.

Dick seemed unsure himself. "Just trying to remember what happened Thursday night."

She heard the opening, the soft lilt in his voice, the silent question to her about her Thursday night. She stepped further into the room, cautiously, watching his expression as she said softly, "Yeah, Thursday night was almost a blur for me, too, but Veronica came and took the scotch away from me."

His eyes flickered in interest. "Scotch doesn't seem like your drink of choice, Mackie."

"Yeah, well, beer just didn't seem to cut it that night. Might as well souse yourself with the good stuff, right?"

He regarded her carefully. Then he walked to the dining table that sat next to a picture window, next to where Mac stood, and pulled out a chair, motioning her to join him. When they were both seated across from one another, Dick replied, "You know, I wasn't sure if you even remembered June third."

"How could I forget what that day is? Cassidy meant something to me."

Dick stared at his hands, which were nervously clasped together. "Yeah, but, he did a lot of damage to you and your friends. I mean your loyalties to them…"

Mac interrupted him. "My loyalties to them are the same loyalties you have to Logan. He hurt Logan just as much, wouldn't you say? It's confusing, to hate him and love him at the same time." Showing her vulnerability was not something Mac did often, but she felt it etched on her face as she whispered, "I always wanted to ask you about it, because I knew…I knew that you would be the one person that might even _get _what it was to feel that way."

"Really?" Dick's hands pulled apart and began inching their way towards hers, which were also resting atop the table. "Cassidy was my brother, and I did some pretty god-awful things to him. I mean, there's always been a part of me that blames myself for everything that Cassidy became."

She watched as Dick's hands got closer and closer to hers, but she quickly drew her hands in her lap, not meeting his gaze. "You can't blame yourself forever, Dick. At some point, people can't blame other people for their actions. Cassidy was responsible for what he did that year, plain and simple. He was two different people, Cassidy and Beaver. I've learned that they were facets to his personality, you know? As if he had multiple personalities. I never saw the evil side of him until that night he left me in that hotel room. In fact, I would never have believed what Veronica told me he did, except for what he did to me in that room."

Dick's sharp intake of breath caused her to look up at him. He looked angry and worried. "What the hell did he do to you?"

Realizing what it must have sounded like, Mac quickly shook her head in consternation. "He didn't do that." When he didn't look convinced, she repeated, "He didn't. But everything that did happened in there was enough to screw me up for a while."

Dick held her eyes for a few minutes. Coming to some kind of conclusion, he nodded slowly and sat back, rapping his knuckles on the table. "Okay, I believe you. Logan told me as much, but hearing it from you helps. The whole situation screwed me up for more than a while."

"So, was that what happened on Thursday?" Mac asked tentatively.

He was quiet for a while, almost as if choosing his words. "Do you know that every year, it gets a little easier, but then there are times when it comes shooting back? Like, how my dad used to dare to me to do things to Beav, things that I never would have thought of on my own. But then I remember all the fun times with Beav, like heading to Tijuana and surfing, hanging over the summer break. We were good friends and enemies, too, if that makes any sense."

"It's a little like that for me, too, Dick. I mean, we didn't have much for bad times. We had broken up once over something that didn't make sense to me at the time, but did once everything came out. And I think for Cassidy that what happened is because he was a victim of circumstance, and acting out because of it." She breathed in deep. "I don't want to talk about that though. Cassidy is my history, and something I only allow in my life once in a while. Because he wreaked a lot of havoc, and I'm not willing to let him continue." She allowed a small smile as she glanced at him. "I've always worried a little for you, because I knew you knew what it was like, to love him. To love him while everyone else around you hates him."

Dick chuckled, a dark, gloomy laugh. "And no one wants to listen to you about him, right?"

"Just my therapist."

He stilled, his breath caught and he stared at her. "Really?"

"I only see her about twice a year now, but yeah, really. What about you?"

"Uh…."he eyed her, pointing at his chest, "chronic depression right here. I see one regularly."

"And what would he say about your little escapade Thursday night?"

"Probably just that I'm an ass and an idiot."

"Look, would you at least tell what you remember from that night? Piecing it together with nowhere to start is not going to be easy."

Dick sighed. "Well, it was like a scavenger hunt. I went to all the old haunts." He squirmed in his seat. "You should have come along; it would have been a blast."

"I bet." Mac refused to be provoked by his little jabs that came out of nowhere. "Will you please just tell me what all you did?"

"Fine. But it really was like a scavenger hunt. I got home from work, and got all my gear together, I had decided that I should go surfing, but I didn't want to deal with all the people here at this beach. They all know me and I didn't want to talk to anyone. So I packed my board up and hit the road."

"What about all the beer bottles here, though, Dick? Or was that from before?"

He looked a little embarrassed. "I had those out and not cleaned up from before. I might have had one before I left, and I packed a cooler full, too. Anyway," he continued on, "I hit the road, and before I knew it, I was out in front of the Neptune Grand."

Mac felt a moment of dismay as she understood why Dick would have been at the Neptune Grand. She must have just missed him. She, too, had been there, but only for a few minutes. "What happened there?"

Scratching as his neck with his good hand, Dick answered, "They asked me to leave because of public drunkenness. They threatened to call the cops on me if I didn't 'vacate the premises,' so I left and headed to Moonlight Beach."

"Why there, though? What's special about Moonlight Beach? I hadn't even heard of it."

"Once, during my junior year, Beav and I went and rode out there. It was a good day, I just wanted to toast to him. That's all." Dick pushed the chair away from the table. "I got there, parked at the lot, and got out, I remember, I just sat at a bench for a while and watched the sunset. I was in my wetsuit, just drinking, there were some guys there that offered me some hard stuff, and I took it. I don't remember much from there."

Mac's ears perked at that. "If you can give us a description, maybe we can find those guys. There might have been something in their drink, they could have drugged you."

"How would that be for ironic? I'd deserve that, wouldn't I?" Dick said sardonically. "What are the chances of that?"

Not really sure what he meant by that, Mac was quiet. She wondered how long this 'nice' persona of Dick would last and when he would revert back to the Jackass persona that everyone knew so well. She wondered if the change in attitude was because they were alone or if it was because he was sober for the first time in twelve years. It made him actually…tolerable. He actually was pretty pathetic, with his sob story and obvious grief-ridden drive on Thursday night. It felt really…familiar, which was how she had always suspected it would be between them. It was a little alarming that Dick could be calm and that she had just had her first ever decent conversation with him, one where she didn't feel like throttling him afterwards. Actually, she felt like hugging him. Tightly.

"We need to get to the police department and report your car stolen. Veronica needs me to work on a different case, so I have to head to the office, and you're going to have to come with me." She stood. "Get your stuff together, you need to pack some clothes, cause it looks like you'll be spending the night at our place again tonight."

Dick stood also, and waggled his eyes at her, "It would be so much more relaxing here, though." He smiled, "Just think, we could have this whole big place to _ourselves._ No Ronnie to interrupt our tender moments."

Sighing, Mac flipped him the bird. He howled with laughter. "You and me are going to get along just fine, Mackie. I'll go pack." Now she wanted to throttle him.

**A/N: So this last scene with Dick and Mac I hope it didn't seem like they just jumped into their conversation. I felt like I needed to give a little nice-ness to the guy and also, give a little insight as to what happened to him. I felt like he could play more vulnerable around Mac but be a jerk when there are other people around. That's where I'm going with that and their relationship. Please review and let me know what you think! Thanks for all the favs, follows, and reviews...I hope you all are continuing to enjoy this story.**


	7. Chapter 7 Correspondence

**A/N: I am having fun with this story. Thank you for all your feedback, it's great and reassuring that you like the direction this is going. I think I will have the next chapter up by the end of the week. One thing, the email addresses in this part of the story would not copy and paste the way I wanted, so I had to change them which I think I changed them all, but if they're weird, I just missed them and I apologize.  
**

* * *

Early evening was setting in by the time Mac and Dick were able to get to Mars Investigations. She hadn't accounted for how long all of their remaining errands would take them so that by the time everything was accomplished, it was already dinner time. They stopped at a burrito place, ordering enough food for Veronica, Wallace, plus themselves, and then headed straight to the office.

Wallace and Veronica had arrived ahead of them by about ten minutes, and Mac was glad to see them. She and Dick had left their serious conversation back at the beach house because the rest of the day had been busy with all of their errands. Dick's attitude had seemed to slowly return back to what she considered "normal" for him, with little shots made to the police officer who took his report and flirty comments to the girl behind the food counter at the restaurant. She had caught herself laughing a few times at his audacity, and he seemed to know it, because every once in a while he would catch her eye and wink, like she was in on some inside joke. Now, however, she was ready for some moral support because she was feeling that she may have enjoyed the day a little too much.

Entering the office, she saw Wallace sitting on the couch, lounging comfortably with his feet on the coffee table and Veronica sitting at Mac's desk, staring at some documents. Dick came in after her, shutting the door loud enough that both Veronica and Wallace jumped.

Dick immediately made his way to the couch, unceremoniously dumping Wallace's legs to the floor as pushed past him to sit on the unoccupied end of it. " S'cuse me."

Wallace harrumphed, sitting himself upright and glared at Dick, "Jeez man."

Dick shrugged, not saying anything, and looked around the office. Mac figured he was unimpressed by the expression on his face, which was not unexpected, considering his wealth. Keith Mars had not invested much time or energy to make the office ritzy by 09er standards, there was hardly a modern feel to the place. Mac made a mental note to ask Veronica about maybe updating a few things, to make it more inviting to the more upscale clients. It would probably be on the end of the list of the many To-Do items, which included leaking ceilings and dripping faucets. Maybe she wouldn't suggest redecorating quite yet.

"So how was your day?" Veronica asked, interrupting her thoughts. "Ours was semi-productive."

Mac walked over and sat in the chair across from her 'boss.' "As prolific as running around all day can be, I guess you could classify it as productive. What all did you find out?"

Pushing back from the desk, Veronica stood up, grabbing some photos off the desk and walked over to where Dick sat. "We got a few bites on who was there on Thursday. Apparently, there were some high school graduates celebrating that night from Pan High." She handed Dick the photos, "Do any of these people look familiar? They said they were there from about nine o'clock on."

Dick studied the photographs, going through them twice. "Nah, I don't recognize them."

Mac stood up and looked at them over Veronica's shoulder as Dick handed them back. She waited a moment and then said, "Dick remembered a little bit more about that night. He said he got there around sunset, and watched the sun go down sitting on the bench right by the parking lot," Dick looked at her, holding her gaze. "He said he remembers someone giving him a drink. I thought maybe if he gave us a description, which might help. Maybe the drink was doused with something."

"Well, maybe we should go through all the shots of the day then. While Wallace asked around, I took pictures, maybe I missed something." Veronica walked back to the desk and grabbed her camera and laptop. "Let's take this in to the other office. Mac, I left the information I need you to look into on your desk. Will you work on that while we go through these pics?"

* * *

A half an hour later, Mac had accessed Madison Sinclair's two email accounts. She had one that was for personal use and one that seemed to be strictly for work. As she scrolled down the list of emails in her personal account, there were three that caught her eye. They were all between her and random named email address, which she assumed was Mark Tennison, who, according to Veronica, was Madison's newest secret boy toy. She flagged them, continuing to scroll down. There didn't seem to be any activity showing that Madison had been in her email after she was reported missing, which was slightly concerning. She flagged two more, one from Mrs. Sinclair and one from her sister, Lauren. They both had responses back in the sent folder so she set to work opening and printing out the emails, choosing to not read them until she had the hard copies.

She could hear the others in the inner room, discussing something in great detail. Mac tuned them out and turned to the earliest email correspondences first, working her way to the most recent:

_May 10_

_From: Elizabeth Sinclair _

_Maddie-_

_We're sorry we had to tell you about your adoption this way. We knew that when the time came, you would not be happy about it, but I don't understand why you're so upset. You've always known you were adopted. We love you! Please call us when you calm down and we can discuss this. It's not the end of the world! Nothing has changed for us!_

_Lauren's doctor told us that she won't need the organ donor anymore. And besides, you didn't want to donate, anyway. They're saying Lauren's one kidney is strong enough, so we don't need to look into the avenue we discussed, speaking to our biological daughter. _You _are our daughter! You come first, we don't want to destroy that! If you don't want us reaching out to your biological family, we will honor that. That's why we told you first before we approached the Mackenzies._

_We love you! Please call._

_Mom_

Mac's hands began trembling as she read over the email again. Lauren was sick? They potentially needed a donor match and _Madison _refused to donate? _Madison _refused to let her family contact Mac? Quickly, she found the responding email sent from Madison back to her mother:

_May 10_

_From: Madison Sinclair  
_

_Mom-_

_I'm just still so upset. How could you not tell me about the true nature of my "adoption!" And the Mackenzies? Do you have any what this news will do to me? I don't want anything to do with them! _

_I'm glad Lauren doesn't need a kidney now. It would have been so awful to have to go to Cindy Mackenzie for help. She and her psycho friends were the lowest of the low in high school. Total trailer trash! There is no way that Sinclair's would ever need to stoop so low as to ask help from those types of people._

_I'm still too angry to talk to you. Wish Lauren well while she recovers, I'm not visiting anytime soon. _

_-Madison_

That girl was unbelievable. Mac slammed the paper down, righteous anger coursing through her. What made a person so evil? So heartless? If it were Ryan sick, there would be no way that she could tell her parents to not do everything possible to save him. Even if it meant awkward family picnics for the rest of her life, she would never be such a bitch to stop what was necessary if it meant Ryan would live.

Mac found the next correspondence, which this time was from Lauren:

_May 18_

_From: Lauren Sinclair _

_Madison-_

_They let me go home today, which is so nice. Mom and Dad have fixed my old room up and it feels great to be home, letting them dote on me. Mom even gave me a bell! _

_I miss you. Why won't you come see me? Mom said you were upset about the donor situation—because you can't help! I know you would have if you could have, but the fact you were adopted makes it impossible to be helpful, and I understand. Plus, once the doctors decided that my other kidney is completely healthy, a donor is out of the picture. What would be more helpful would be to see you!_

_Please call or come over!_

_Love you!_

_Lauren_

Mac read it over twice. So Lauren was unaware, it seemed like, of the true story. She supposed the reason would be because the Sinclair's were keeping it quiet because of Madison. That meant that Lauren still wasn't aware of Mac. Only that Madison was adopted. Hmmm…interesting. She found the responding email:

_May 18_

_From: Madison Sinclair  
_

_Lauren-_

_I miss you, too. I just have been so swamped at work. Tell Mom I will be there for dinner tonight._

_Love you_

_Maddie_

This email confused Mac a little. It seemed out of character for Madison to suddenly be so agreeable, but maybe Lauren just did that to her. Obviously it was not enough to get Madison to want to donate a kidney if she would have been a match. Whatever Madison's reason, Mac wasn't going to get the answer from anymore email between them, because there were no more.

The next three emails were between Madison and the email address she assumed was Mark Tennison's. Mac read these with interest, because Veronica had implied that it looked like the two love birds had run away together.

_May 22_

_From: Madison Sinclair _

_Hey babe! _

_How's it all going? I think that June will be best for me, too. Will you be ready by then? I can pack that white suit, you know the one. Let me know the time and place, and I can get what you asked for and be there._

_Maddie_

This email actually seemed to be going somewhere. It was full of missing information, though, so she flipped to Mark's response:

_May22_

_From: __big10  
_

_Maddie-_

_Ooh, baby, your white suit. June can't come fast enough. Remember, third to the bottom. And don't forget the rest. All these business meetings and no play makes me lonesome for you. Working to the first. Will let you know ASAP._

_M_

But Mark's response (she assumed it was Mark because of the at the end of the email) was cryptic. He was instructing Madison to do something that they had obviously talked about before, but the information went over Mac's head. She had no idea what they were talking about.

She found the next two correspondences and read them eagerly, hoping for clarification.

_May 26_

_From: __big10 _

_Maddie-_

_Next week, baby. Meet me like we discussed. You know where. Bring it all, especially your bag of goodies._

_M_

_May 26_

_From: Madison Sinclair  
_

_M_

_Ooh, you get me so hot thinking about it all. I know exactly how to work candy. No problem._

_Maddie_

And then the final email correspondence:

_June 1_

_From: __big10 _

_Maddie-_

_Be there at 2 sharp tomorrow. You know where. You know what to bring. Did you get it all?_

_M_

_June 2_

_From: Madison Sinclair  
_

_Hi, Baby-_

_This is perfect. Can't wait to see you! Got it all past candy._

_Maddie_

This all confused Mac. She highlighted what she thought was important and then stuck her head in the other office. "Hey, V, you got a minute?"

Veronica looked up from where she was leaned over the desk along with Wallace and Dick, neither of whom looked up. "You guys keep looking at these. Dick, when you're done, have Wallace write down your description of the kid who gave you the drink." Then she came around and followed Mac back out to the main office. Shutting the door behind her, Veronica asked, "What's up?"

Mac handed her the emails between Madison and Mark. "Read these and tell me what you think. It kind of verifies your assumption that she's with her boyfriend, but it seems…off. It's weird. "

As Veronica read them, Mac went back to her computer, scrolling down the list of emails, to be sure she had found all the important ones. There didn't seem to be anything else, so she glanced back at Veronica, who finished reading and sat down.

"Well?"

Scratching her head, Veronica nodded. "Yeah, that's weird, all right. She must have met Mark that day. But all this cryptic junk about the third to the bottom and knowing what to bring…they sound like they're up to something."

Mac agreed. "There's something else." She handed over the family emails. "Lauren's been sick I guess. Read those, it will make your love of Madison grow."

Veronica grew increasingly still as she read the email interactions between Madison and her family. Her eyes widened with shock. "She really is the devil incarnate." She set the emails back on the desk. "What a two-faced beast. Seriously, how could someone be so cruel?"

"I wondered the same thing." Mac reached out and grabbed the emails, tucking them back into a folder labeled Sinclair. "The classic question of nature versus nurture?"

"With that piece of work, I don't think either has anything to do with it. It's an insult to you to assume otherwise." Veronica stood up. "I think we've done enough for tonight. I don't want to think about this case until Monday. What do you say we go back to the apartment? We could watch a movie or something. Let's get our minds off this mess."

* * *

When they got back to the apartment, Veronica went straight into her room and booted her computer up. She had just received an email on her phone from Logan asking if she could talk at 9:30 via Skype. It was just about then, so she left the Mac with the two men in the living room, arguing about which movie they wanted to watch.

The evening at the office had been interesting. Dick seemed calmer than normal, which was probably due to the fact that he was the victim this time around. Usually he was the side-kick jack ass, but this time he was full front and center, which made him a tad bit more serious.

The computer pinged, and Veronica quickly accepted the call. Soon Logan was there, staring into the screen, seeking her face. He broke out in a warm smile, which meant the call had connected. "Hey."

Affectionately, she smiled back at him. "Hey. How are you?"

"Honestly? A little worried," was his answer.

"Yeah, I don't blame you." Veronica adjusted her screen. "I wish you were here. This is crazy."

"We're almost to a month, babe. We can make it. How's Dick?"

"Well, considering that he spent the full day in the hospital yesterday unconscious, really well. You would never know he'd been there."

Logan leaned forward into the screen, as if willing himself to pop out on the other side. "What exactly happened?"

Veronica felt herself beginning to fidget. She explained about Dick's injuries and how they were pretty sure that he had been mugged. Then she added, "We're wondering if he might have been drugged with something."

Logan's eyebrows shot up in disbelief. "You seriously think that?"

Veronica scowled at him. "It's not just women who get the date-rape drug, Logan. You should know that from experience."

He shook his head quickly, "That's not what I meant and you know it. It's just that Dick always has his own…refreshments on him. How would he have been given a laced drink?"

Veronica pondered that. "Well, I don't know, but he admitted to taking a drink from some guys at the beach. Maybe he just used poor judgment."

Logan sat still, his tall frame evident in his straight posture. He chewed lightly on his lip, thinking. "That just seems out of character for Dick. You need to ask him about that. Ever since high school, he's always been careful with where he gets his drinks." He brought a hand to his face, rubbing his lips and then he looked straight into the camera. "He's kind of let that night at…Shelley's…haunt him a bit, I think."

Veronica felt herself go still. They had yet to talk about this part of their past since they got back together. It had always been a sore subject, especially because Logan had always blamed himself for what had happened to her that night. He had supplied the drug that ended up Veronica's drink. But Dick had placed it in the cup, which had been intended for Madison but became Veronica's by default.

And then whatever had transpired in the bedroom before Beaver had….well, by his own admission, Dick had been there, egging his brother on. Veronica had never really forgiven Dick for his part, she knew. As much as she tolerated the guy, she still didn't trust him as far as she could throw him.

"Well," she said, coolly, "how about that? The third club this week that I'm president of."

"Veronica." Logan quietly said. "We were all idiots back then. None of us had any understanding of what that stuff meant. If I would have thought for one minute the damage…." He rubbed his forehead with both hands, "God, I've obsessed about that forever."

Veronica tried to look him in his eyes, but it was so infuriatingly impossible that she gave up. "You don't need to obsess, Logan. We're past that, you and me. It's over and we've moved on. But Dick, I don't know what to do about him."

He sighed. "So what about this help you mentioned Mac was looking for?"

"Well, she hasn't found help yet because it's the weekend. But on Monday, she's hoping to get some live-in nurses interviewed and hired."

"For how long?" Logan asked.

"Just two weeks. The doctor seemed worried that he would hit the bottle, so that's the main reason they don't want him alone. Unless you know of someone that could stay with him?" Veronica asked hopefully. "It would be nicer if it were someone he knows."

'Well." Logan's eyes turned beseeching, "Is there any way you or Wallace could stay with him? I mean, a live-in is great, but your point is valid. Someone he knows would be better."

"Logan." Veronica stared at his form on the screen. "I would be too tempted to lace his Coca-Cola just to shut him up. And Wallace has work—he has the semester grades to finish up and then he's headed to some kind of basketball boot camp thing up near San Fran starting the middle of next week."

Logan sighed. "Well, what about Mac? If he stayed with you both, certainly you wouldn't be as tempted to murder him in his sleep. Between you two and your dad….couldn't you? For me?"

Veronica silently counted to ten, thinking. Giving in, she asked "What will you do for_ me_ if I agree to babysit Dick?"

Logan's eyes quirked in victory. "I'm sure you'll think of something. We've done some sight-seeing along the way and I'll be coming to port bearing many gifts, all for you, baby." His voice deepened as he leaned in closer. "Name it and you got it."

"Not to worry, I'll name it for sure." Then she grinned, "I have some surprises for you, too. I've learned some new moves involving a stripper pole."

Evidently stunned, Logan sat back. "Come again?"

"I had some field work I had to do for Madison's case so I decided to take her Cardio Pole Class. For the case, of course," She clarified.

"Are you suggesting that I bring home a pole for the bedroom?" He grinned in delight, "I don't think that would be just for your enjoyment, but if you insist…"

"If I could reach through this screen…" she threatened, grinning. "You might be surprised how flexible I discovered I really am though."

"You be nice. I'm delicate, remember? You don't want me imploding on this carrier due to your lewd comments." His gaze was hot. "I wish that there was somewhere private on this fishbowl so I could show you just what your talk is doing to me."

She fanned herself, batting her lashes. "My, my, kind sir. I suppose our private dreams will have to do." She grinned, "But come July 8th, all bets are off. Bring plenty of drinking water. And get plenty of rest."

"I can't wait."

Veronica stared at him, suddenly missing him terribly. "Me neither."

They were quiet for a few minutes, both contemplating their own thoughts. Finally, Logan spoke up. "So the bad news is that I won't be able to talk to you for at least a week. We're going on a…..mission and you know how it is, they don't want us jeopardizing the thing. You can email me, though, and I want you to, so I know how Dick is. And how you are, of course. I want to hear all about this pole-cardio thing."

She felt her heart sink at the news. "So when should I plan to hear from you before I get worried?"

He smiled a lop-sided grin. "You don't know how good it is to know you worry."

"Always." Veronica straightened. "And the 'pole cardio thing' is _The Vertical Limit_ at The Ten. It's a very serious course."

"Right…all work and no play for you, huh?" Logan smirked at her. "Just the way I like you." The he sobered his face serious. "As for when I can get back to you, probably at least not until Sunday, more like Monday, though. One week?"

Veronica grabbed her calendar that hung on the wall and circled the date. "So if I don't hear from you by the thirteenth, I'm calling in the droids to go find the carrier."

He chuckled. "Yeah, I'd love to see you do that. But you won't have to. I'll email you by next Monday night, I promise. And that will be another week down, and then we'll be less than a month. We'll be," he paused, mentally counting, "twenty-five days till breakfast in bed with you."

Too soon, it was time to disconnect and Veronica was alone again in her room. She lay down despondently, staring at the ceiling, clutching her pillow, wishing Logan were there with her. She had no energy to return to the living room and make nice with the group out there watching a movie. Instead, she stood up and changed into some sweats and a t-shirt, heading for bed.

* * *

**A/N: It makes me a little sad thinking about LoVe being apart for so long. I have a brother-in-law that is in the Navy and he usually is gone for longer stints, so actually 180 days is nothing. I won't complain (too loudly). But I wish RT would have made Logan, I don't know, maybe just a pilot for an airline, then they would at least get to see each other. Distance makes the heart grow fonder and all of that. Soon,_ soon_ they will be together. yay! As always, reviews are welcome and encouraged. I like reading about whether you like this or not. Also, thank you for favs/follows. It's a great sign that people like it! I'm getting back on the Madison mystery...the next chapter is all MaDi and then chapter 9 should be about both M and V searching for the devil incarnate. Thank you for taking the time to read this story!  
**


	8. Chapter 8 Concern

**A/N: Heavy on the MaDi here. Small amount of the mystery on Dick's case none on the Madison. Hope you enjoy! Seriously my longest chapter yet  
**

They sat on the couch, side by side, while Wallace sat in the recliner. They had decided to watch the latest Avengers or Captain America movie; Mac didn't even know which because she was too aware of the heat emanating from Dick's body. She could feel his every movement, each time he squirmed to get more comfortable or reached to get another handful of the popcorn that sat on the other side of him, closer to Wallace. She had moved as close to the arm rest as possible, but kept feeling her body slip closer and closer to the middle of the worn out couch until she was almost hip to hip with Dick. Their arms kept brushing into one another, which was distracting her. The lights were off, so she knew that Wallace was unaware of the flush creeping up her neck, but Dick was another matter. He seemed fully aware of how stiff she was keeping her body.

During an exceptionally loud scene, she heard Dick mutter near her ear, "You can relax, Mac, I'm not going to bite."

From the corner of her eye, she watched as he propped his feet up on the coffee table, causing her to roll even closer into him. "Why don't we get a little more comfortable?" Leaning back into the couch, he swung his arm up and behind her, high enough that it draped across the back of the couch, not touching her. A few minutes later, Dick squirmed again. "Hey, Wallace, hand me that blanket would ya?"

Wallace grabbed the blanket that rested beside him in a basket and threw it over, eyes not leaving the screen. Sheesh, Mac thought, some wingman Wallace was turning out to be. She willed him to look their way, but it was as if Wallace was refusing to be a part of anything untoward by ignoring all possibility of it.

Dick arranged the blanket, which was, of course, a king-sized jumbo blanket that could fit forty people underneath it. He covered his legs and then placed a large piece of it over her, so that they were sharing it. Not really thinking, Mac pulled at it so that it covered her also, hoping that it might hide some of her nerves.

About twenty minutes later, she felt his hand moving underneath the blanket, creeping nearer to her. She stilled, even more rigid than she had already been, not sure what to think. Her hand closest to him sat atop her hip, palm upward, and his hand brushed along the length of her forearm and slowly clasped her hands, his fingers entwining in hers. Mac jerked to quickly look at Dick, shocked. She was surprised where his hand had ended up more than that he had just made a move. What she had expected was for his hand try to rest on her thigh, perhaps creeping upward as the movie progressed. Her eyes caught his and he smiled modestly.

His hand was warm and comforting, and she was reluctant to pull away from him. After their talk that afternoon, she felt closer to him, as if they just might be friends. She was content for the moment to just hold on to his hand, to take that comfort only Dick could impart.

Her mind wasn't on the movie at all. The events of the day, from Dick's revelation about his feelings regarding Cassidy to the strange, sad emails that she had read from Madison's email account, to the fact that she was sitting in the dark watching a movie holding hands with _Dick Casablancas_, kept revolving like a Ferris wheel in her mind. She felt her own fingers tighten against his hand, running her thumb methodically along his forefinger. Somehow, just being quiet next to Dick, just listening to his breathing, relaxed her. Eventually, she felt herself slip into sleep, burrowing unknowingly into the side of his chest, her legs curled up alongside the couch.

* * *

Startling awake, Mac felt arms going around her, lifting her up and she heard someone whisper, "I'll open the door, man." Her face was pressed into someone's neck, her arms automatically clutching to his shirt. Dimly, she realized it was Dick that was carrying her because she could feel his cast scratching at her back, where her shirt had raised up. She buried her head into his collar bone, breathing in his musky scent. He smelled of sandalwood with a slight hint of lime, a heady scent to her. She felt dizzy as he twirled his body around to avoid hazards and all too quickly she was gently deposited on her bed. She kept her eyes closed as Dick pulled blankets up and around her.

She felt him lean in close to her and then heard him whisper, "I know you're faking it, Mac. I could be a real jack ass and sleep in here next to you, but I'm feeling generous tonight. Don't count on it lasting. See you in the morning." Then she felt his lips brush her temple, causing her to open her eyes in shock. As he drew back, their eyes met in the moonlight and he grinned. "Sweet dreams, Mackie." And then he was gone.

* * *

Morning light filtered in through the window, casting a faint light across her bed, and Mac sat up, suddenly unable to sleep any longer. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand, which read 6:30.

She had slept fitfully once placed in her bed. It embarrassed her how hard she had been sleeping next to Dick, hard enough that she knew he could have left her there all night next to him and she wouldn't have noticed. In fact, she wondered if she would still be asleep now.

Mac stood and padded to her door, opening it slightly to look out to the living room where Dick was sprawled out on the couch. She chuckled at the sight, his good arm draped over his face to block the morning light, his leg flung up on the back of the couch. He had the blanket they had used last night wrapped haphazardly around him, half of it on the floor. His shirtless chest peaked out over the top of it. He was too tall to sleep comfortably on their couch, but somehow he made it look as if he was sleeping soundly.

She closed the door quietly, leaning against it in slight turmoil. She felt like she was in high school with all this angst. And over _Dick Casablancas,_ for crying out loud! Could she be any more stupid? He was a drunk, immature surfer whose only known trait was being eye candy.

All these years, she had wondered about Dick and how he was coping. But she had never really thought of him in a romantic way, not really. She recalled the awkward near-kiss back at the end of the freshman year at Hearst. He had been more than a little drunk, she was sure of it. He had tried, half-assed, to apologize for being a jerk to her and then had leaned in to kiss her. She had just pushed him away and left immediately, ignoring him as he called out not to say anything to Logan about it. That was the extent of their "romantic" involvement. He probably didn't even remember it.

But now that they had really cleared the air, something had seemed to change between them. The dynamic of their conversations were filled with an undercurrent of awareness, of an understanding that only they knew. It was a bit terrifying, actually. She had always wondered if Dick would understand her best, but she had never truly planned to find out. And with everyone else, she kept her secrets guarded as if under lock and key. Only Mac's very closest friends knew even a small amount of the baggage that was hers. To have someone new know…even if it was Dick, who personally could understand even some of it, made her feel cautious. She didn't like feeling vulnerable.

She couldn't allow this odd situation make her susceptible to Dick's goofy charm and good looks. There was so much going on right now, that to be weakened in resolve could seriously tear her heart to shreds, and she wasn't willing to put herself in a place that was sure to do just that. Dick was never serious about anything, and she knew that these little games he was playing with her, holding her hand, chastely putting her to bed, kissing her modestly goodnight, was all just a twisted way for him to get another notch on his bed post. Mac knew how he worked, she had watched it for years and no matter the bonding she was feeling with him, she could not permit herself to fall into his trap. She wouldn't allow him to toy with her for sport.

Determined to play to her strengths and not let Dick get the best of her, she headed into the bathroom, locked the door and stripped down to take a shower. This was a new day, and she would resist Dick's charms if it was the last thing she did. Last night was a momentary thing, she had just needed a little comfort and she knew she could just leave it at that. Besides, there was only one more day before she could find him some hired help and wash her hands of him.

* * *

Veronica entered the living room and stopped in relief. She hadn't come out at all last night after her conversation with Logan and it wasn't until this morning that she thought to worry about where Mac had spent the night. It was reassuring to see Dick passed out on their couch, alone.

She wondered how he was doing with no alcohol in his system for two straight days. It occurred to her that he might start in on the withdrawals here soon, and that they all needed to have a sit-down about what to do with him once it started. It might not be a pretty sight, she knew from experience with her mother. Although she hadn't seen the full onset of it, Veronica knew enough that getting dry was one of the hardest things an addicted person could do. And that was if they wanted to do it.

Dick wasn't someone that addressed his problems head on. It worried her a little how he might react to them encouraging him to stop with the drinking, at least for a little while. He was definitely an alcoholic, and had always been one since at least college, and likely since high school. This might be harder than anyone thought, and as much as she hated to disappoint Logan, a nurse just might have to be called in to help.

She padded past Dick's sleeping form and went into the kitchen, making quick work of setting the coffee pot up, readying it to brew. She arranged cereal boxes and got out bowls for breakfast. There were noises coming from within Mac's room, and soon the sound of her shower running.

Over in the living room, there was movement as Dick stirred awake. He sat up slowly, a hand to his head, groaning. Veronica watched as he stood up, the blanket covering him falling to the floor as stretched, exposing his bare chest and boxer briefs. His eyes popped open and he scowled. "This is definitely not the Grand. How can you call that thing a couch?"

Shaking her head in amusement, Veronica poured them both a cup of coffee and came over to hand one to him. He took it gratefully, sipping it cautiously to avoid burning his mouth. "I don't think we ever meant for you to sleep there. How are you feeling this morning?"

"Grumpy." He sat back down carefully. "With all the kinks in my back, I think it's going to be a tip-top morning for sure."

Eyeing him, Veronica asked slowly, "How's your head feeling?"

"Well, I think the swelling's down." He said, touching the stitches that ran above his eye.

Veronica set her coffee cup down on a side table and sat down next to him, turning to face him. "Yeah, I can tell it does look better. Are you having any headaches or feeling nauseous?"

"What's this? Veronica Mars concerned about _me?_ It's the end of the world as we know it." Dick frowned at her. "Don't worry about the Dickster, he can take care of himself."

Sighing heavily, Veronica replied, "You know, Dick, you don't have to act like a petulant child at all times of the day. There's nothing to gain by it." She swallowed. "I realize that you're coming off a high of alcohol and you might be having withdrawals. I am concerned, actually. I think I have a right to be worried, since you're staying here with us. I don't want you going postal on us. It's just disguised as concern for you."

"Well, then I'll keep my outbursts to a minimum."

"That's mighty generous of you," Veronica retorted. "But seriously, how _are _you feeling?"

All at once, Dick seemed to deflate in front of her, his fight gone. "I do…have a headache. And I'm nauseous," he admitted grudgingly. "But, whatever, I'll live."

She stood up and crossed over the recliner, giving him some space. "I talked to Logan last night, you know. He's worried about you."

"Yeah, well, at least someone is. How's he doing?"

They were momentarily distracted when Mac's door opened, Mac emerging and pausing at the corner of the room, watching them. "Good morning." She crossed over to the kitchen, poured herself a cup coffee and then headed back to stand behind where Veronica sat in the recliner, facing Dick. "Don't stop your conversation on my account." She waved a hand, "Continue on."

"Ronnie here was just starting to tell me about her hot conversation she had last night with her sailor."

"I was just saying that he's worried about you, that's all. That he's hoping you're all right, and I just wanted to pass that on." Veronica grimaced as she turned to look up at Mac. "Dick here seems to be having slight withdrawal symptoms."

"Jeez, Veronica!" Dick said abruptly. "I don't just spout out your business to whoever walks by!"

"Sorry! I didn't realize Mac was 'whoever' since she's only been taking care of you for the past two days. I thought it might be prudent to tell her. I didn't mean anything by it."

Mac's hand touched Veronica's shoulder, calming her down for a moment. "What are the symptoms?"

"Headache, nausea, _irritability,_" Veronica listed, "being a general pain in my ass doesn't count, though, because that's normal."

"Thanks, Ronnie, and like you're a walk in the park yourself," Dick muttered.

"You two, get a grip." Mac chided. "You're making _me _nauseous."

Veronica stood up, done with the conversation. "I'll make you some toast, Dick, that should help with the nausea. Mac, can I talk to you in the kitchen for a moment?"

Mac followed Veronica into the kitchen, around the bar that separated it from the living room and leaned against the counter as Veronica pulled sliced bread out and stuck them into a toaster. She waited silently as Veronica found a butter knife and pulled out a plate to set the toast on once it finished toasting.

Finally, Veronica turned and stared at her. "Logan asked if we could keep Dick with us for the next two weeks instead of finding him a live-in."

"Oh?" No other word would come out. "And where did you tell Logan to stick that suggestion?"

Veronica looked contrite. "I might have agreed to house him for a little bit longer."

"You mean, two weeks longer?" Unable to sit still any longer, Mac stalked over to the fridge, looking for something to eat. "What did Logan have to do to get you to agree to this?" She glanced over her shoulder at Veronica, who was guiltily staring at the ground. "Never mind. One look from his doe eyes and he owns you."

Her friend met her eye. "Yeah, well, I miss him. He does kind of own me right now." She shrugged. "What can I say? But look," Veronica continued, "Dad will be home later tonight, we can all take turns with him. And he will have to go to work at some point, won't he? I was thinking about this in the night. Maybe someone there would be willing to help out."

"No can do, Ronnie," Dick interrupted, tromping heavily into view, "My staff has nothing to do with this. I can't have them giving me sponge baths."

"Well, we may just have to hire that job out then, Dick, because no one here wants that honor, either," Mac bit out harshly.

Dick glanced at her, a quick frown forming on his lips, quickly retorting, "Well, maybe we should put it to a vote. Ronnie just might not agree with you."

"As much as I would love an opportunity to drown you, Dick, I think I'll pass."

"Whatever you decide, sounds like I'm just along for the ride. But that ride needs to take me to the surf shop because I have to get my paperwork in by the morning and if I don't do it by then, my people won't get paid. Then they all will be in line for that opportunity to drown me."

"We could rent a dunk tank," Veronica suggested, "Then the whole town could be in on it."

"Be careful what you wish for, Ronnie. I don't think I'm the first that everyone would want inside that thing."

* * *

Mac couldn't believe that she was once again stuck with Dick. Not that she truly minded, but she really wished that she could have a bit of a breather from the guy. When he was with more than just her, he seemed like he always did, jokey and a regular ass-hat. But then when it was just the two of them, he was calmer and it confused her. He was almost nice. She had to remind herself that it had just been too long since she'd had male attention and not to read too much into how he was acting.

Veronica had begged off of going to the surf shop. She said that she and Wallace had plans to meet again at Moonlight Beach and then she was supposed to pick Keith up at the airport. Mac knew that Keith could take a shuttle back into Neptune, and therefore Veronica was just coming up with excuses to stay away from Dick. And she hadn't even looked worried when Mac had shot her a 'if you don't come with me I'll kill you' look, in fact, she had just ignored her. Wallace had dropped by and then they had all parted, going their respective ways.

Dick's surf shop sat on the end of a strip of businesses near Dog Beach. He had aptly named it The Water Dog. Mac followed him into the well-lit shop, taking in all the customers milling about. Once, about four years before, Mac had given into curiosity and had come into The Water Dog under the guise of looking for a present for Ryan's birthday. It had been interesting to watch Dick behind the counter that day, even though he had been too busy to even notice her. When he had first opened his doors, there wasn't much of a staff and he had been involved with a lot of the sales and rentals. She had entered and seen him there, making her freeze, wondering what in the world she was going to say to him. She had spent less than five minutes looking around and then headed straight out the door before a salesman or Dick had the chance to approach her.

Now, however, she could see even from that small amount of time between four years ago to now, how much Dick's business had changed. He had purchased the shop next to his and had expanded at some point, tearing out the wall between and putting in a section of swim suits and even a small section of beach necessities like chairs, blankets, and umbrellas. There was a wide array of surf boards, boogie boards, and paddleboards lined up in the front and hanging from the rafters. He had installed wide windows that let in a large amount of sun light and gave a generous view of the beach beyond.

Dick led her past the front of the store, past the back counter and through a wide swinging door that brought them to a break room for the employees and then beyond to his office. Switching on the light, he ushered her in and then closed the door. He motioned for her to sit in the chair by the desk while he went around the desk and sat at the computer.

"You know, I probably can handle some daylight hours by myself," Dick muttered, "I'm not a complete drunk that I can't be trusted before happy hour."

"You didn't see what you looked like in that hospital bed Friday morning. I think we shouldn't take the chance."

Dick said nothing as he typed in some information, swiveling in his chair looking on his desk for something. Evidently finding it, he picked up what looked like time sheets and began inputting information on a spreadsheet of some type.

Mac watched with interest as he went to work. She had seen the evidence of his professionalism the day before, but this was even more proof of the adult that he had become. The fact that he was worried about his employees touched her, because it showed evidence that he wasn't so self-absorbed to think that just because his life was on hold, his people's lives should be also.

The whole morning had been about getting here and getting the payroll done, because no one else had the clearance to approve the employees hours for the week before he submitted them to the company that processed their checks. He had told her that it was his main job to approve the schedule and the hours worked, and that usually he did that on Sundays anyway, so he wasn't even behind. He needed to post next week's schedule before closing time today along with submitting payroll, so he would probably be here for a few hours. There was also the matter of inventory reports and some ordering he needed to check, which he said he was definitely behind on. Apparently he did those on Fridays, and that hadn't happened, so if it had been a busy weekend, their inventory might be a little low for the next week. Dick had looked slightly worried about the possibility of not getting here in time to do everything that needed done.

Eventually, Mac pulled out her own laptop, which she had brought in with her. She opened it up, accessing her email and checking again to see if anything interesting had come in, and then she went to work on her expense report that Keith would want on his desk in the morning. Monday was MI's day for all the payroll/reports and Dick's flurry of activity had reminded her of it.

As they worked quietly together, both on their respective projects, Mac realized that it was companionable silence between them. Dick didn't try to interrupt her; in fact, he was so busy she wondered if he even was aware she was there. For Mac, however, she was very much cognizant of his every move; from the corner of her eye she could see the muscles in his arms moving as he typed on his keyboard, the way he leaned into his paperwork to double check numbers.

Her phone pinged, and she picked it up to check the text from Veronica.

_I think we found something. Can we meet up with you and D soon? There seems to be a witness._

Mac glanced up at Dick, studiously working. _I think he's got a lot here yet to do. Any chance you can bring the witness here?_

After a few minutes, Veronica's answer came. _Just bribed him with promises of pizza. One o'clock?_

Checking the time, Mac sent back an affirmative and then said to Dick, "Looks like we have a lunch date at one. What do you like on your pizza?"

* * *

Veronica and Wallace arrived directly at one, carting with them a large pizza and a salad for Mac. As they placed all the food down, Veronica checked her phone and disappeared out the door, returning a few minutes later with a college-aged kid. He was tall and lanky, wearing board shorts and a t-shirt, his brown hair the typical length of a carefree surfer.

Veronica gestured for him to sit in the only available chair. "Have a seat and dig in. Wallace here has some drinks." He passed one over and Veronica continued on, "Everyone, this is Todd. Todd, this is Mac, and you might remember Dick here from the other night."

Dick, who had been ignoring the goings on up until this point, turned to sharply look at Todd. "Hello….do I know you?"

Veronica barreled over what Todd was about to say, supplying, "Todd here says that he was there when you passed out. That you had been dancing around a bon fire like you were part of a Wicca ceremony."

"What's so surprising about that? That's every other night for me," Dick replied sarcastically. "Were you the one that called nine-one-one?"

Shifting uncomfortably, Todd swallowed a bite of pizza. "No, dude." He pointed at Veronica, "She said you were passed out in your own puke, and you weren't that way when I left. You passed out and me and a couple other guys got you away from the fire and left you there, I swear."

"Huh." Dick leaned back in his chair. "Well thanks for leaving me there."

Veronica sat back, observing the scene. The irony of this situation wasn't lost on her. It felt eerily familiar thinking back to when she herself was trying to find out what had happened to her the night she had been dosed back in high school. And how afterwards she had realized how stupid it was to go somewhere alone where other people could take such advantage of you. She felt a twinge of empathy towards him. It sucked; the not knowing.

Mac spoke up, "What time did you leave, Todd? And how long had Dick been with your group?"

Todd directed his answer to Dick, "Man. Uh, well, we all met there about 8:30 and you were sitting at a bench, with a huge cooler of booze, so we asked if you wanted to join us," his eyes shifted to Mac, "anyone with beer is welcome to the party, ya know?"

"Did he have his surf board with?" Wallace interrupted.

"Nah, I didn't see it. Just the booze."

"Did you offer him some of yours? Dick says he remembers taking some harder stuff," Mac inquired.

"All we had was beer." Todd grabbed another piece of pizza, "does that matter?"

Mac and Veronica glanced at Dick at the same time, who sat ramrod straight. Veronica finally said, "We're just wondering if there were drinks other than beer there."

"Well, I know when we rummaged around in his cooler…." Todd guiltily eyed Dick, "there was a bottle of water in there, and we all avoided that. If it wasn't alcoholic, we didn't want it."

Mac seemed doubtful as she asked, "Why would you remember a bottle of water?"

Shrugging, Todd answered, "Yeah, well, that's the thing. It had the _Neptune Grand's _logo on it. None of us can afford that type of a place, I don't know, there were some jokes about it." When they all looked at him questioningly, he explained, "Like if your friend here could afford the Grand why couldn't he afford better beer?"

Dick grunted. "I happen to like the cheap stuff."

Wallace stood from where he had been sitting on the floor. "That's weird though, why would you have water from the Neptune Grand?"

Veronica watched as a look passed between Mac and Dick. As if they knew something she didn't. Vaguely, Dick answered Wallace with, "Someone must have given it to me."

"What time did you leave him there?" Mac asked quietly.

"Probably around eleven-thirty. We all had work the next morning, so we shut it down early." Todd squirmed under all their stares, "What? Moonlight Beach is a safe place; we didn't see the harm of leaving him there. He just needed to sleep it off."

Mac stood up from where she had been sitting on the ground, looming over Todd's sitting frame. "You should never leave an unconscious person, especially when they've been heavily drinking! Are you an idiot?"

Veronica grabbed Mac's arm, pulling her back away from the kid, "Mac, calm down. He's not an idiot, he's just…_young._"

"That's hardly an excuse." Mac tried to tug out of her grasp. "And you," she twirled to face Dick, "How idiotic was it for you to go do all that alone? Partying with complete strangers?" She felt her voice rising dangerously, "You're old enough to _know_ better!"

Dick stood up, focusing solely on Mac's face, anger flashing across his features, "Yeah, well, maybe I don't give a damn, did you ever think about that? No one else ever has!"

The tension was crackling between them and peripherally Mac could see Wallace staring wide-eyed and open-mouthed from his spot on the floor. Veronica had let go of her arm, soundlessly flicking her eyes between the two of them. Dick and Mac could have been the only ones in the room for all she cared, as she stared him down. "That's where you're dead wrong. This is ridiculous. I can't listen to any more. I have to go." Mac gathered her laptop, stuffing it angrily into her bag and turned to leave. "I'll see you all at the apartment later. I have things I need to do."

* * *

Mac got in her car and drove. She drove the scenic route on the Pacific Highway for about an hour, stopping for gas in a little town and then heading back, radio silent, with the windows down. The cool air coming in from the ocean hitting her face in bursts helped to calm her down.

Honestly, she wasn't sure what had set her off. Listening to Todd going on about how Dick had been behaving had made her feel unbelievably sad for him. She had always thought about how Dick could help her, understanding Cassidy and all of that. But it had really hit her back in that office, how alone Dick really was, without an actual family to support him. It was a miracle that Dick had made it this far in life, and she realized that it had to be sheer determination on his part, that he hadn't fell into a worse pattern of destruction. He had no real father figure, his mother had run away from their familial problems, and his brother was dead. All he really had for family was Logan, thousands of miles away on a ship at sea, where he was unable to talk him through the tough days.

Without really realizing it, she pulled into her parent's driveway. Sunday afternoons were reserved at the Mackenzie's for summer barbeques for any of the family that could make it. She made it more often than not, but today felt a little different. On one hand, she was late. They typically started at one and it was nearing four. On the other hand, after the week she had had, Mac was in desperate need to just be with her family. To see their smiling and loving faces that held no judgment.

She entered the back yard, where her parents stood staring up at a lemon tree. They were holding hands and laughing at something that one of them had said, her mother leaning into her dad. Hearing the gate close, they turned and both beamed at her.

"You came!" Her mother detached herself from her dad and stepped over to her. "I had kind of given up on you. We already ate, but I think we can scrounge you up something."

"No," Mac said, her heart full, "I just wanted to stop in and say hi."

* * *

Mac stayed until well after dark, enjoying the evening with her parents and Ryan, who had come home from college just that week. They had started playing _Monopoly_ out on the back porch as the sun went down and the evening air cooled.

When she finally got back to the apartment, she was unsurprised to see that Veronica's car was there and the lights were out. She let herself in, quietly shutting the door, tiptoeing past the living room and entering her room, dropping her purse and keys on her dresser and flicking on the lights.

"Good to see you made it home _safely_." Dick's voice filled the room and she jumped, startled. He was sitting on her bed, back resting against the headboard, staring straight at her. "Looks like you were responsible enough to go it alone, huh?"

Not in the mood for an argument, Mac shrugged off her jacket, silent. Bracing herself, she met his eyes as if in a dare. Finally, she asked, "What's it to you?"

"Well, jeez, Mac, you stomp out of the office for no real reason and then we don't hear from you all afternoon, which, by the way, is totally uncool."

"Did you ask Veronica where I might be?"

Dick looked away. "Well, no…but she wouldn't tell me anyway."

"Relax, Dick, I just needed to go see my family. Sunday barbeque." She stepped out of her shoes and threw them into her closet. "Why do you even care?"

"Well, maybe because I was just getting used to you being my keeper. Now I've got Wallace since Veronica won't sit with me for more than ten minute increments." His voice softened as he regarded her, "I missed you."

She visibly rolled her eyes. "Dick, how can you miss me? You don't even know me."

Standing up, he stalked towards her, glowering, "You say that, but you don't really _mean _it, do you? I mean, really, who in this world knows you better than _me?_" He stopped inches from her, his height making him seem ominous.

She stood firm, however, straightening to her full height, glowering right back, responding, "I can think of _quite_ a few people, actually."

"Let me rephrase that. What _man _in this world knows you better than _me_?" He sneered, looking her up and down, "Who knows all your fears and your past with Cassidy, who can understand that?" His hands grabbed her shoulders and he shook her, "What _man _isn't afraid that you might break if he does this?" With that, he roughly pulled her into him, his mouth claiming hers, thrusting his tongue deeply into the depths of her mouth, seeking the heat found there.

She felt herself melting into him, mindlessly responding, her body arching up into his, her arms grasping at him, running the length of his back. Her brain caught up with her body, however, and she pulled away in anger, reaching to slap him. Dick must have expected it, though, because he caught her arm before her hand could touch his face. "How dare you?" she screamed, glaring up at him, "You think you can play on my sympathies and then throw Cassidy in my face? You have no shame." Pulling her arm out of his grasp, she furiously crossed her arms across her chest and scowled at him.

"No Shame? _Shame? _Is that what you call this? I call this finding the _one _woman that remotely understands why I do the things I do, only to have her _push me away_ the moment it gets too complicated." He stepped away from her and toward the door, "You can't run forever, Mackenzie. This is going to happen, you just wait and see."

Following him out into the living room to where he was angrily arranging blankets and pillows, she told him forcefully, "I didn't ask for you to come here, or to disrupt my life. This is a temporary arrangement, _Richard._ I know how you work, and I'm not stupid. I refuse to be one of your playmates of the month, tossed aside the moment you get what you want. I don't work that way, so get over yourself." Turning, she headed back to her room not stopping until she was safely inside, slamming the door behind her.

* * *

Her lips burned from how his lips and tongue had seared into her. Mac brought a hand to her mouth, reliving the force of his kiss and the moment of utter mindlessness it had brought. Her head fell back to rest on the door, eyes staring into nothing. _Ah, shit,_ she thought, _I'm in some serious trouble._

* * *

**A/N: This is where these characters led me. I hope I seem to be staying true to their personalities in your eyes. I love discovering what is happening to them along with you.  
**

**The next chapter is very much about Madison's mystery. There will be some questions arising from it, and also answers as well. It's fun to read the speculation about what's going on there in your comments.  
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**Please if you have the time, let me know what you think. I hope the MaDi is working for you all!**


	9. Chapter 9 Merger

Veronica woke with a start. She looked over at the clock, realizing that she had allowed herself to sleep through her alarm. Groaning, she pushed herself up and out of the bed, stretching and listening for noise outside in the living room. Late last night she had heard arguing when Mac had gotten home; worried, she had peeked out her door to see Dick irritably arranging himself on the couch, alone.

Now, however, as she peered out her door, Dick was not on the couch. Veronica could hear him in the kitchen, fumbling around with what sounded like the coffee pot. She made her way there, finding him cursing over spilled coffee grounds, trying unsuccessfully to clean it up with a rag, on his hands and knees.

"All fours, huh. Dick?" Laughing at his absurd form, Veronica strode around him to pour herself a cup of coffee, leaning against the counter to watch him with humor. "Ah, a Casablancas doing lowly housework. You're making my day."

He glared at her, sitting back on his knees. "So much for being helpful."

She smiled indolently, half closing her eyes as she looked back at him, coffee cup to her lips. "Glad to see you're up and at it, boy. Wallace said he'd be here at eight to pick you up for the day. You ready to go back to summer school?"

He rolled his eyes, standing and flinging the dishrag into the sink. Sarcastically, Dick muttered, "Only if I get to clean the chalkboard, since I'm apparently so good at these white collar jobs."

"Well, I suppose if you asked just right, you might just be able to." Veronica passed by him as there was a knock at the door, heading to answer it, "Wallace said you can help grade papers."

"Highlight of the year. How can I resist such a temptation?"

Letting Wallace in, Veronica shut the door and turned to face Dick. "Well, seems like you could use a break from MI for a few hours, so good thing you're excited." Glancing at Wallace, she asked, "What time do I need to pick him up?"

Wallace was watching uncertainly towards Dick, who was brushing coffee grounds off of the front of his shirt. "You owe me, Veronica. That's all I have to say about this." His gaze turned to her. "I have to leave before three, because of my flight for the basketball camp. I'll drop him off at MI on my way out so don't worry about picking him up. I won't be back for almost two weeks, so I hope you have some backup for this guy. Can you and Mac handle him?"

"It's just Little Dick, Wallace. I wouldn't be a Mars if he was too much to handle." With that, she ushered them both out the door to start their day.

* * *

Fifteen minutes after Wallace and Dick left, Mac guardedly opened her door and sauntered into the living room. She eyed the couch, passing it and heading into the kitchen where Veronica sat at the table. Getting herself a cup of coffee, Mac sat down across from her and sipped slowly.

"Everything all right?" Veronica asked. "I assume you heard Dick leave with Wallace."

_Thank goodness._ Mac swallowed and set her cup down. "Yeah, I'm glad I can get some work done today."

Considering that, Veronica studied her roommate. "I heard arguing when you got home last night. When I went to check, Dick was on the couch, alone. Is everything all right?"

Blowing out a sigh, Mac said forcefully, "I don't want to talk about it." The whole night felt like a nightmare. Or a dream. She couldn't quite decide which.

Raising her hands in defeat, Veronica relented. "That's fine. But if you change your mind…."

Not meeting her eyes, Mac just nodded. "I'll tell you, just not right now. I need to focus on other things this morning." _Like anything else. Anything else at all._

"Okay. I'm going to take this moment to remind you that Wallace will be bringing Dick by the office at three. So prepare yourself." When Mac didn't respond, Veronica moved on, asking, "What is your day looking like?"

"I need to get my expense report and time into Keith." She mentally checked off her list, "check further into Madison's email; maybe try to look further into those ones that Mark sent her. They were weird. See if I can access her browser history."

Veronica scooted her chair out and stood, taking her empty coffee cup to the sink and rinsing it out. "I need you to work on some things on Dick's case, also," she said, not facing Mac. "After you left yesterday, Wallace and I got the whole story about what Dick did Thursday night. I need you to do some digging."

"It just so happens I have my shovel at the ready. "

* * *

The two women drove separately to MI twenty minutes later. Keith was already there, working away at his desk. Veronica went straight to her computer, booted it up and checked her phone's messages while she waited. There was only one from Elizabeth Sinclair: _No news. Please continue._

And continue she would, but there were other pressing matters, like getting paid. Mac had reminded her as well of the reports she needed to get into her Dad this morning, so she hurriedly began working on them. There were three separate cases that she had been working on that needed billed out. They included the Sinclair's case, which normally she wouldn't have gotten together this early in the investigation, but Elizabeth had requested it, so when she set the paperwork on her father's desk an hour later, she briefly explained why it was included and then headed back to her desk and began working on cases.

She shot Wallace a quick text: _How's the star student?_

_He's such a joy! He seems edgy, fyi._

_What do you mean? _

_Hard to tell with D but he just seems nervous. Short tempered. More so than normal. _

_It might be withdrawal. Let me know if it gets worse._

_OK. But when he starts frothing at the mouth and streaking through the hallways, my duty is done. _

Chuckling, she scrolled through the menus on her phone, quickly finding what she was looking for and attaching it to an email to forward it to Mac. Wanting to warn Mac of what she was about to listen to, Veronica typed:

_Mac,_

_After you left yesterday, Dick agreed, finally, to go through exactly what he remembered from Thursday night. Attached is the recording (I recorded it covertly because he said he would only tell it once.) I want you to listen to it, see what you think. If you have time to transcribe it, which would probably help us later. You'll see what digging needs to be done after you listen to it. _

_V_

Hitting send, Veronica set to work, readying her newest questions for Norris before she called the police station regarding both Madison's and Dick's cases.

* * *

Mac had just set her reports on Keith's desk when her phone pinged, alerting her to an email. Seeing immediately that it was from Veronica, she turned directly around and went back to her desk to open and read it there.

Reading what Veronica had written, Mac found her ear buds and plugged them into the computer, opening a Word document to transcribe what was said. She was sure the only reason she had been asked to transcribe it was to keep her mind at task, for which she grateful to Veronica. Typing was mind-numbing for her, something she could do without much thought and then go back over later. Given the events that led to her leaving the Water Dog yesterday, Mac was sure that Veronica was probably a little hesitant to let her listen to Dick's version of the events on Thursday night.

Before she thought about it anymore or could change her mind, Mac pressed play, listening as the conversation started right up, beginning to type what she heard:

_ Veronica: How did you get a Neptune Grand water bottle? I assume you must have gone there at some point that night._

_Dick: Fine. Yeah. I went to the Grand on Thursday. Big deal._

_Veronica: Can you elaborate? It kind of is a big deal._

_Dick: Hell, I don't know. Management asked me to leave._

_Veronica: What else happened? You do realize that someone could have targeted you there?_

_Dick: You and your conspiracy theories._

_Wallace: You have noticed that more often than not, Veronica finds that the conspiracy theory is correct, right? I wouldn't look down my nose for too long, Dick._

_Veronica: I need all the facts to find out why you were targeted._

_Dick: Plain and simple, Ronnie. Wrong place, wrong time. There can't be much more to it than that._

_Veronica: Dick, I'm not here to judge you, I'm trying to help you. Who gave you the water at the Grand and why?_

_Dick: You are a thorn in my side. All right, fine. Full on story mode, you ready? Take notes cause I'm not repeating it._

_Veronica: Duly noted. Go on._

_Dick:_ _(_Long pause) _So, I got home from the shop like normal, around 5:15. I got all my gear, packed my cooler and headed out, probably left the house well before six, I'd say_.

_Wallace: Were you drunk yet?_

_Dick: No, not by most standards. Maybe a bit buzzed, sure. I had a beer as I was packing up. Then I drove by the old house, sat across the street, had a toast to old times. Drove by Neptune High and then…. headed to the Grand._

_Veronica: What time do you think you got there?_

_Dick: Maybe 6:30, 6:45? I wasn't on a schedule, it didn't matter to me. I wasn't paying attention._

_Veronica: All right, now go through exactly what happened, try not to miss anything._

_Dick: I parked in the parking garage, grabbed a beer and headed into the main lobby on the elevator, you remember how to get there, right?_

_Veronica: Did you see anyone in the parking garage or in the elevator?_

_Dick: Nah, but I wasn't paying attention. As soon as I got out of the parking garage elevator, I went straight to the main hotel elevator and tried to go up to the roof. They have it all lock and key now, as if everyone wants to take a swan dive from that place._

_Wallace: What did you want up there for?_

_Dick: Not to take a dive, if that's what you're asking. I just…needed to clear my head with some fresh air. But since it was locked, I went back to the lobby, went to the bar, had a couple drinks and then went out to the front of the building. Management must not have liked me stumbling around, because they had one of their minions come and threaten to call the cops on me, so I left. He gave me a bottle of water and told me to 'sober up.' I took the water and the guy watched me leave. I went around the corner and then doubled back to my car through the alley. _

_Wallace: How drunk could you have been if you were able to find your way to your car like that? Barely a sober person could do that on a good day._

_Veronica: So, this person that asked you to leave, was he in a uniform? Did you recognize him? And did you drink the water?_

_Dick:_ _The dude was in a suit, yeah, and I'd never seen him before. But I rarely go down to the Grand anymore. As for the water…I set it in the console of the car.…yeah, I must have drunk some of it while I drove. I think when I got to the beach, I grabbed it, got out of the car and went to the back, got my cooler out….I stood there, looking out at the waves, I don't know…that's where it goes fuzzy. I must have just thrown the water_ _into the cooler, locked up and went and sat at the bench for a while, watching the sunset. I remember for sure sitting and watching the sunset._

_Veronica: Okay…while you were sitting there, did anyone else approach you? Mac said someone gave you hard liquor._

_Dick: You're so nosy! God, I don't remember exactly! (_A long beat of silence)_ There was a dude, he sat by me for a while. We talked about some stuff, you know, how life throws you curve balls and all that type of shit. He had a bottle of something…I think I had some…I don't remember now. I'm serious when I say it's fuzzy. I barely remember it. This is making my head hurt._

_Wallace: What did the guy look like?_

_Dick: Seriously? All I remember is... uh… he was a white dude, I think._

_Veronica: Do you remember Todd and the bon fire?_

_Dick: Vaguely. I was pretty shit-faced by then._

_Veronica: Do you remember then, anything after the bon fire with Todd and his friends? Like, say, being punched in the face and breaking your arm?_

_Dick: I remember puking, feeling SICK. Like, puking out a train-load of shit. I don't think I've ever felt so nasty. _

_Wallace: Dude, do you remember whether you were hurt yet?_

_Dick: Well, my arm felt like fire. It was probably broken by then, yeah. It felt like someone was pulverizing my gut with a meat cleaver while I was puking—full force projectile. Next thing I know, I woke up in the hospital._

Pulling the ear buds from her ears, Mac sat back, ingesting what she had just heard. She was pretty sure that Veronica wanted her to pull security footage from the Grand, which she could do in her sleep. She wondered if she could pull any traffic light pictures or even head to Moonlight Beach to see if they had cameras in the parking lot. At the least, camera footage could verify the timeline, and hopefully give them some solid leads into what really happened that night to Dick.

She was still pissed as hell that he had gotten himself in that situation. She was pissed as hell that she had allowed him to get under her skin, to the point that she cared. And the problem was, she didn't understand why he was being the aggressive suitor all of the sudden, as if….as if _he_ cared about _her, _too. She had analyzed their words from their argument the night before over and over again all morning. His were the words of someone that had harbored feelings for a while. With clarity, she recalled the look on his face in the hospital when he had first realized Mac was there. He had only calmed down once she had entered the room and spoken to him. Dick had kept his eyes locked on hers as if she was his lifeline. At the time, she had chalked it up to confusion and fear, but what if it meant _more? _What if there was something deeper to everything she had ever seen in him?

If that was true, then she was in even more danger of getting hurt than she had ever imagined. With this case, there would be no easy way to avoid him or to avoid her growing confusion regarding him. Because now, from what she had just heard, there were two serious leads on who could have drugged Dick with something—the suited man at the Grand or the man that sat with him on the bench. But what possible motive could someone have to drug Dick at the Neptune Grand and follow him to the Moonlight Beach, only to then wait four-plus hours to mug him? Grudgingly, she realized that there was a lot more to this case than a random mugging, and that many questions had yet to be asked of Dick himself. She wouldn't be able to avoid him forever.

* * *

Veronica hung the phone up, slightly discouraged. There was still no word about either Madison's or Dick's vehicle at the police station. A phone call needed to be made to Weevil, to see if he could check into whether or not a Land Rover or Mercedes had come through his cousin's "business." Ruminating on that, she started flipping through the emails that Mac had printed out from Madison's account.

_Candy and a bag of goodies. A white suit. Don't forget the rest_. What was Mark asking Madison to bring? It sounded drug related, in Veronica's eyes. And the fact that Mark asked her to meet him at two o'clock sharp meant that she had willingly gone with him, and that she had planned to do so well in advance before she left. Yet she had still met her mother, albeit briefly, at the restaurant downtown. What had Madison been up to?

Staring off into space, she didn't notice when Keith had stood from where he was working at his desk and sat down to sit across from hers. He cleared his throat, and her eyes snapped to his. "Sorry," she said, embarrassed, "I was just reviewing some things in my head."

"That's fine." Keith raised his hands, each holding paperwork. "I was just going over your expense reports…and I have a question."

Her gaze sharpened on him. "You don't usually question what I ask for reimbursement."

"No, no, it's not that. That's not the problem. It's this _Vertical Limit_ class at the Ten."

Squirming uncomfortably in her chair, she asked, "Yeah, what about it? I was working a case."

Keith set the papers down on the desk, staring at her. "Well, that's the thing. Are we working the same case?"

Confused, Veronica asked, "What are you talking about? That's for the Sinclair case. Aren't you working a fraud case?"

Pushing the papers towards her, he answered, "Well, yes, as a matter of fact I am. Look at your report and then look at my case. I think you will see what I'm seeing."

Veronica pulled the papers to her, looking briefly at the expense report she had just submitted, with the receipt for the pole class stapled behind it. Then she looked at the other paper, which was a detailed description of the case that Keith had been working on for the past three weeks.

Suddenly, she saw it. Gasping, she murmured, "You have got to be kidding." Quickly glancing at Keith, she read aloud, "'Client: Mary McDougal, owner of ThinSlimNow, suspects accountant skimming of books. Wife of one Alex Tennison, owner _of The Ten Gym_; married, thirty-eight years. Two sons: Alex Junior Tennison, 35 years of age, and _Mark Tennison,_ 32 years of age.' " Dropping the paper, she gazed at her dad in slight shock. "What are the chances of that?"

Shaking his head, Keith said, "I've been working the angle that it's the accountant, but I haven't been getting _anywhere_ with it. She's clean. There's no proof of her skimming. So I've started focusing on other employees of the company, starting with the two sons, Alex Jr. and Mark. They both are working, in different capacities, for ThinSlimNow and The Ten Gym. Tell me what brought you to The Ten."

As concisely as possible, Veronica explained about Madison's class, why she had decided to go there to check it out, and how she had found out about the romantic relationship between Madison and Mark. She showed him the emails between the two lovers, pointing out the strange talk about "candy."

"Dad, what exactly is ThinSlimNow? What makes the owner believe there is skimming going on?"

Keith ran a hand across his forehead. "ThinSlimNow is a diet regiment based off an all-natural vitamins drink that, according to Ms. McDougal, is the new _IT_ product of the century. It supposedly suppresses all appetites while still giving you enough calories…blah, blah, blah. I stopped listening when I realized it wouldn't go with my lasagna. She came to me because she thinks that the numbers are off and she wanted me to catch her accountant, one Devinity Quinn, skimming the books and padding her own pockets. I've set up multiple traps, and either this girl is smart or she isn't guilty. I vote for the latter. The trip I just took this weekend? It was to check up on the oldest son, Alex Jr., to see if he was really in Houston for a health and fitness conference, promoting the product, which he was. I was planning to do the same on Mark, which, now after listening to you, I'm thinking I should have checked into him first."

Shuffling through the papers, Veronica eyed her father warily. "So it's looking like, what, that Mark is skimming from one of the family businesses, and now has just run off with his girlfriend? What do you think the reference is with the candy is? What do you think Madison has to do with the fraud part of it?"

Keith grimaced, leaning back into his chair. "She may be just along for the ride, who knows at this point? What does the Sinclair family say about Mark?"

"That's the strange thing, Dad, they didn't know anything about him until I found out about the connection from Nancy, the substitute instructor. And I haven't told them _at all_ about the emails, we just found them late Saturday afternoon. Mrs. Sinclair asked us to hold off on the investigation until this morning, but I went ahead and had Mac get into the email, because it wasn't looking like we were going to find her by this morning." Not wanting to divulge anymore, Veronica shrugged. "Where is Mark supposed to be? Maybe he's at a conference and had Madison meet him there."

Keith motioned at the paperwork Veronica still held. "Well, according to the schedule that Ms. McDougal gave me, he is supposed to be on his way to New York to pitch ThinSlimNow to some CFO's for a major gym on the East Coast."

"Where was he last week?"

Standing up, Keith replied, "That I don't know. I hadn't gotten to him yet. I'm going to email Mrs. McDougal right now for his schedule from the last three weeks, since that seems to be when all these emails started up. Let's just track his whereabouts, see if anything more adds up. Maybe you should head back to the Ten, and formally interview the staff."

Watching as her dad rounded his desk, she spoke up, "I wanted to look into a few things regarding Madison's car. And I wanted to put an alert out on her passport, do some of that type of digging this morning. I might not be able to get to the gym until later today."

Waving his hand, Keith grunted. "On second thought, you might as well wait anyway. I wouldn't mind going over Mark's schedule with you and Mac." He pointed at her, "These two cases are still separate for now. We do our own digging until there's more proof they're linked. Maybe you two should just go to the Ten later for a class, like you did on Friday. You can both do a little digging. Two set of ears and eyes are better than one sometimes."

* * *

"Hey, Mac." Veronica came out and sat across from where Mac sat at her desk. "How's it hanging?"

Looking up from her work, Mac realized right away that Veronica seemed wired, a spark in her eye that she got when she was closing in on a case. Making a face, Mac said, "I know that look isn't because of Dick's case. What's up?"

"You ready for a little field work?"

"My dear Bond, aren't I just the Techy-Q? I'm just patiently sitting over in my corner, waiting for an order of gadgetry." She smirked, "What do you got?"

"We need to go back to the Ten this afternoon, and take some aerobics."

Mac's smirk faded. "Uh, define aerobics. I already take kickboxing. "She flexed her arm, "I've got the guns to prove it."

"You can't get out of it quite that easily. We've just had what we call in the business a break in the case." Veronica then proceeded to tell Mac the connection between the Sinclair case and the ThinSlimNow case. "So we need to get in and ask around again, albeit stealthily. If we both go in as trying out the class, we can-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You want me to what?"

"Let's just take it hour by hour, here, Mac. Keep it in mind that we have a 'Covert Mission'," she air-quoted, "later this afternoon. Let's move on to Dick's case. Did you listen to the recording?"

Knowing that Veronica was trying to distract her from their assignment, Mac huffed. "Subject successfully changed. Yes, I listened to the recording. I have been working on getting into the security mainframe at the Grand…I'm through some of it but they have some firewalls that is going to take some time. I should be in by lunch or shortly thereafter. I was thinking to get into the police department site and check the traffic light camera archives, just to see if they have anything. And after that, I'm looking into seeing whether there's a camera at Moonlight Beach."

"Actually, Wallace and I looked when we were there. There is a camera—but it faces the sidewalk coming in from the pier and not on the beach or the parking lot. We might be able to get something, but it won't be much, I'm afraid."

Mac rubbed her neck with a hand. "Great. Well, if it's all we got, I'll make the best of it."

"I'm calling Weevil next." Veronica looked back into the other office, "Dad's talking to Mrs. McDougal now, she should be forwarding Mark Tennison's schedule over her by noon as well. Then we need to go over it, all three of us." She paused. Taking in a breath, she raised her eyes slowly to meet Mac's. "If we find that this is a real link, Mac….we will have to tell Mrs. Sinclair about it, and then she's going to know we read the emails. If she knows that…"

Mrs. Sinclair knowing that they knew about the emails equaled them knowing about the 'adoption.' Realizing what Veronica was saying, Mac considered the repercussions. She thought of the previous day, sitting around playing board games with her family, with the people that raised her. They were her rock; they'd been with her for twenty-eight years, they had kept her close to them and loved her even though she wasn't _theirs_. Although they never had directly told her about the Sinclair's, in her heart she knew their reason was fear. Fear that she would turn her back on them and run to the monetary security that the Sinclair's represented. Fear of the unknown. She had never pushed them because she already knew the truth and knew it would only cause pain. Mac was guilty of the fear as well.

Pushing all those thoughts aside, Mac replied, "If it's for the case, we do it."

"Mac." Veronica tipped her chin. "This isn't easy. It _won't _be easy. Just…just prepare yourself that we're going to have to have that conversation with her soon. I want to give you some time, but this might get out of control fast."

Nodding, Mac looked down at her desk. "Veronica, you and I know that MI can't work by not telling the client what they are paying us to find out. Tell her about the emails when it comes time. I'm fine with it."

Chewing her lip, Veronica sat in silence for a full minute. "I just…I just know it's hard, all this. You're my friend first, partner second. I wish that it was different."

"I know. Me, too." Firming her resolve, she added, "When Elizabeth Sinclair walked in here last week, I knew it would eventually come to this. It's not like I haven't had some time to prepare for it."

Giving her a _look_, Veronica huffed, "Preparing and reality are two different things sometimes."

Shrugging, Mac smiled, "I'm all for reality slapping me in the face. I've grown accustomed to the sting."

* * *

At 12:30, Veronica heard a triumphant "hoorah" from Mac's desk, and she stopped her work and strolled out to where Mac sat, grinning. "Why so jubilant?"

Mac pointed at her largest monitors, which Veronica couldn't quite see, so she came around the desk to look. Obviously in the Neptune Grand's mainframe, there was a box with a bunch of code in the middle of many other open screens. "I got it. And they still have Thursday's; it looks like they keep footage backed up for six months. Give me an hour and I'll have all of the footage of Dick there that night."

"Awesome news, great job, Mac. I called Weevil and he's looking into the car situation with his cousin, so that end is going. Let's break for lunch. I'm completely worn out." Veronica stepped back in to where her dad sat, grabbing her purse and promising to bring back some takeout. He only nodded distractedly, so with that, the two women headed out.

An hour and a half later, they returned to MI with a large sandwich for Keith. He motioned them directly into sit around his desk, saying quickly, "Veronica, honey, you got a package, and it's sitting on your desk." She eyed it interestedly, but Keith went on, "I just got the email from ThinSlimNow showing Mark Tennison's schedule for the past three weeks." He turned his screen so that the ladies could see the spreadsheet. "I've only skimmed quickly through this, but I was hoping that Mac could verify through the airlines these flight dates. From what I can see, there a multiple flights that need to be verified." He pulled up another screen. "I had them forward Alex Jr.'s schedule also. His flights should be checked, also. I've forwarded you both this email, so you can double check it with any information that you have concerning Madison's schedule." He drummed his fingers on his desk. "I'm going to confirm the hotel reservations and conference rosters that Mark was supposed to be at these past few weeks. Let's work till about three and gather again to see where we've gotten. If you both head to the Ten later, you're going to need time to get your workout clothes and get there to sign up for the five o'clock class. That should work fine."

"Wallace is dropping Dick off around three. You're going to have babysit him while Mac and I are at the Ten." Veronica informed her dad, "Somehow, I can't picture Dick on a pole."

Mac snickered. "I bet he would be glad to pretend."

Keith put his hands to his ears. "Ladies! My ears are burning." He dropped his hands back to his desk. "I would be glad to keep Dick, that won't be a problem."

They separated then, Mac going to her computers to start the multiple searches on flight information and Veronica to her desk to check for messages from Weevil. Only as she sat down did she remember the package her dad had told her about, which was sitting on her chair. It was a medium box, fairly light, and her heart skipped a beat when she saw the return address was the Naval Base. It was from Logan.

Smiling, she could hardly contain herself from ripping the package wide open right then. But she wanted to savor the moment, as if he himself were here with her, because of this wonderful unexpected package. Like a faraway kiss he'd blown from his hand to her, she wanted to capture it and keep it close, especially because she had a week yet before she would hear from him again. Veronica wondered if he had known that when he had shipped it. Doubtful, but still, it helped to think he had planned it that way.

Taking scissors from her drawer, she cut the tape from the top of the box, making quick work of it. She opened it, seeing two separate boxes and an envelope with her name written on it stuck on the top of the larger one. She opened it, pulling the letter out and reading:

_Dearest Veronica,_

_I got in some sight-seeing, a place that you absolutely have to visit someday. All I can say is that the sand is so white and the ocean is so blue, it's unlike anything I've ever seen, even in all my surfing years. I imagined us walking the beaches together, and making love beneath the stars…we're coming back here together, and we'll do both, many times over._

_I saw these things and thought of you, but I wanted you to have them before my return. They reminded me of a long time ago and now as well. I hope you like them as much as I do. Wear them for me. July 8th. I'm almost to counting the hours, it's so close. By the time you get this, it will be closer still._

_Love you always. Spanning continents._

_Logan_

Smiling, Veronica quickly wiped her eyes and opened the smaller box. She gasped as she held out a wide bronze bangle bracelet, the edges braided with a fine bronze wiring. The center held a turquoise stone, held there by thicker wiring that wrapped around the edges to make a light curl at the bottom of the stone. That thicker wire was braided into the bangle by the thin wiring. The bronze itself had been distressed. She saw instinctively what he had meant with this piece: the bangle itself was something Veronica would have chosen years ago, when they had first dated, and she discerned that the turquoise represented the blueness of the ocean that he had written about. Immediately, she pulled it from the box and slipped it onto her wrist, loving the feel of it, loving knowing that Logan had handled it last, choosing it for her with care.

She turned back to the box, carefully pulling out the last box from within. She opened it, seeing right away it was a piece of silk clothing, and pulled out the delicate fabric with care. It was a classic little black dress, and as she pulled it out, she was amazed at the beauty of it. The straps were thin but woven with an intricate lace design, the style cut short in the front and tapered in the back, with black stitching across the top. Pulling it completely out of the box, a second envelope fell to the ground from within the folds of the dress. Grabbing it, she could see that Logan had written on the outside of this envelope "V…for later." Looking around and seeing her father engrossed in his work, she quickly found her purse and stuck it deep in the bottom. She would enjoy that later, indeed.

* * *

True to form, Wallace dropped Dick off at three o'clock sharp just as the group was re-convening in the back office for their updates. Mac had already sat down across from Keith's desk when she heard the shuffle at the front door as Dick let himself in. Determinedly keeping her back to the inner door, she felt her pulse kick up a notch as she heard his complaining begin. She had to bite her lip to keep from laughing out loud as Veronica began in on him right away, the bickering continuing as Dick followed Veronica into where Keith and Mac were already sitting.

"I'm telling you, Ronnie, they have a placard with your face on it with_ horns _on it, posted in the teacher's lounge. Now that I'm VIP I know these things." Dick voice wavered briefly as Mac caught his eye as he sat down next to her. "You're still legendary, by the way. Ol' Wu said to tell you hi."

"Now where would they have gotten a picture like that?" Veronica asked, a little put out. "Wallace would have told me about that. There's no way." She seemed overly defensive, though, and Dick hooted with laughter. Mac felt her lips reluctantly turn up as Veronica pulled a chair from her desk and dragged it over to sit around Keith's desk.

Mac stared down at the paperwork on her lap, barely glancing at him as she told him, "There's some footage I will need you to look at eventually, though, I have some work yet to do on it, but it should be ready—"

Veronica interrupted her, "It won't be ready until well _after _the class this evening, Mac…Dick, she worked on your case this morning but has been working on another one this afternoon…that has been taking all of our time today."

"Well, I'm hurt that you aren't putting my case first, Ronnie. I'm paying double, aren't I?"

"Actually, I wasn't aware you were paying at all." Veronica cleared her throat. "But if that's the case—"

Dick put a hand up to stop her. "Relax, work on your case. I trust Mackie here to work overtime to get me my information. I'm betting if we stay up all night we can use the time to our advantage."

Mac felt her heart stop and she couldn't help throwing him a quick glance of indignation at his innuendo. Veronica and Keith were silent for a beat, a moment of uncertainty passing between them. Continuing on as if unaware of the sudden tension, Dick asked, "What's this class you're going to? Can I come? Ooh, is it a painting class? Are you doing the nude male form? I could be your muse."

"Muses are for inspiration Dick, and you're hardly inspiring," Veronica remarked, "Besides, I think you mean a model. And no, it's not a painting class, and _no _you cannot come."

"I think that was a double negative, Ronnie, so that means I get to go!" He smiled, flipping his blond hair out of his eyes. "You're such a nice babysitter."

"Dick." Mac eyed him from her chair, "The class is for a case, and we really can't have you there. I doubt that men are allowed."

"Ooh, now I am intrigued. Really, but then what are you going to do with me, since I'm not allowed to be alone, like, ever?" Dick leaned forward and picked up a file folder labeled 'Sinclair' and he paused as his forefinger ran over the label. "Sinclair, huh?" he murmured, thumbing through it, "As in _Madison Sinclair_?"

Mac grabbed the folder out of his hand and threw it back onto Keith's desk. "Really, Dick, this has nothing to do with you. You should go sit out on the couch and wait for us to finish up."

Keith unexpectedly interrupted. "Wait, wait. I have an idea. Dick, do you ever work out at The Ten?"

The younger man met Keith's eye with interest. "Why do you ask? I'm more all-nat-ur-all, if you know what I mean…don't have a lot of use for machines that do my running for me." He shrugged. "I surf. That's about it. Why?"

Nodding, Keith leaned forward, excited. "Have you ever taken a spinning class?"

"Uh…no." Dick looked around the room, eyeing each of them. "Why?"

"I think you should go to The Ten with the ladies here, and do some digging yourself." When Keith heard the intake of breath from said ladies, he held up a hand, "Just listen up. Looking at this schedule, I see that Alex Jr goes to the five o'clock all-male cycling class when he's in town. I happen to know he came into town late last night, so he'll be there. This would be a perfect opportunity for someone to get into that class and meet him, and maybe fish around a little. I can prep Dick on what to say," Keith added, seeing the looks on their faces. "I wanted to do it myself, but I met the man just yesterday in Houston. There's no way he wouldn't recognize me."

Seeing the reactions of Mac and Veronica, Dick rubbed his hands together. "This is going to be fun."

"But…but what about your arm? Certainly you won't be able to cycle with a cast on." Mac sputtered.

Dick placed a hand on her knee, grinning. "You just worry about yourself, and I'll worry about me." Pulling his hand away, he said softly, just to Mac, "Let me be helpful. I want to." Louder, he said, "I'm sick of being cooped up all day. Spinning sounds like just the thing." As if just realizing something, he asked, "What class are you two going to be in?"

An awkward glance passed between Veronica and Mac as Veronica answered, "It's kind of like a Zumba class…but different."

Mac rubbed her temple with her forefinger. "Yeah, Dick, you just worry about yourself and we'll worry about us. Don't ask any more questions. _Please."_

**A/N: I'm finding that the more involved these cases are getting, MI is very _very_ busy with them both. I hope that I am able to keep your interests with each Madison's and Dick's cases and that I'm not skipping around too much. I hope I've created a bit of intrigue with them as well, writing mystery is _very _new to me. Thank you for all of the support-comments, favorites, and follows. I appreciate that you take time to read this work and I hope you are still enjoying the story. I may be slowing down with my 'fast' updates, I don't plan on it, but I have more on my plate in the summer months than any other time. I hope to get at least 1 chapter a week, but they may not be as long. As of right now, my chapters just keep getting longer and longer, ha, it's hard to quit writing. Thank you again! I love your comments, to see how you are enjoying this. Please throw me your thoughts if you have the time.**


	10. Chapter 10 Group Effort

**A/N: Thank you very much for reading. I hope you all like this! Thanks also for every follow, favorite and reviews.  
**

Chapter 10 Group Effort

The next hour was eaten up with preparation. Mac and Veronica were so busy planning their own strategy that they barely registered the fact that Keith was going over both cases with Dick and that Dick was paying careful attention to what he was being told. Twice, Mac passed by where the men were working to hear Dick ask questions that she herself would never have thought to ask, and was impressed by his obvious interest and care.

Just before four o'clock, all but Keith left to drop Mac's car off at the apartment, and then all piled into Logan's convertible and headed out, first to the beach house to pick up workout clothes for Dick and then to the bank to pick up cash to pay for the classes. By the time they had reached the parking garage across the street of the gym, it was well past four-thirty. There was little time to discuss much as they each went separate ways out of the garage and into the gym's front door. They planned to get back to the car the same way that they had left it: alone.

* * *

As Mac rounded the corner of the front of The Ten's building, she could see that Dick had reached the door before her, so with determination she kept up her step, reaching the door as he pulled it open. Catching her eye, he smiled politely, as if to a stranger holding the door for her as she went through.

"Thank you," she murmured, barely glancing at him, breezing right in to the front desk where the clerk was sitting. Nodding to her, Mac chirped, "Hi! I need to see if I can get into the…"her train of thought wandered as her eyes slid involuntarily over to where Dick had stepped up to the counter next to her, "uh…into the _Vertical Limit _class tonight at five…" she felt her lips start to tremble in slight hysterical laughter, so she pinched the skin of the opposite palm to calm herself, "I was hoping to get into it…yeah, uh…if there's room for me."

The clerk stood, her boobs bouncing up against the low-cut black spandex track suit she wore. "Sure, you just need to fill out the form that says we're not liable for any injuries. The cost is at the bottom." She motioned to Dick and asked, "What can I do for you?"

Mac bent her head down, trying to focus all of her attention on the form in front of her and failing as she heard Dick say dryly, "Hell, I was here for cycling but I'll take what she's having."

Mac couldn't help it. Honestly, she couldn't help but glance at him, catch his eye and grin as the clerk burst out laughing. "You and every other man in the place." The clerk handed Dick a clipboard, "Here's the form for cycling, same deal, sign it and pay the fee at the bottom." Handing them both a clipboard and pen, the clerk sat back down to continue working on the paperwork that sat in front of her.

As Mac filled out her form and handed over the money, her eye fastened on the poster behind the reception area that was advertising the _Vertical Limit._ Oh, my. She looked over to where Dick stood, a lecherous grin on his face, waggling his eyebrows at her. Smirking, he mouthed, "Zumba class, huh?" and pushed his form toward the clerk. "Excuse me," Dick leaned over the counter, squinting at the girl's name tag, "Uh…Candy, do you _have _a co-ed _Vertical Limit _class? I mean, you could even host speed dating between twirls around the pole. Think of all the good that could come from it." As Candy laughed at Dick and he worked his magic, Mac finger waved and left the counter to head towards the locker room so she could change.

* * *

Veronica was already in the workout room by the time Mac entered. They made eye contact as Mac made her way to the front of the room, internally groaning as she stepped up to a hooker pole between two perky blonds in skimpy shorts and sports bras. They were already stretching, readying themselves for the class. Mac geared herself, trying to channel her inner-porn star as she placed both hands on the pole, one above the other, her mind trying to wrap around the idea of what she was really doing here. She figured she might be able to keep up with the workout, given that she took kickboxing a few times a week, but she had never been someone super comfortable exhibiting sexy behavior in front of a crowd, especially when not encouraged by liquor. She was more of what people called the designated driver in those instances, the wallflower of the group. So the fact that she was supposedly here by her own accord felt ridiculous to her.

She twisted to her right, leaving her left hand on the pole, as if to stretch, just as the woman to her right twisted towards her. Mac grinned as she caught her eye. "How do you like this class? This is my first time, ever, to something like this."

The woman let go of the pole, bending her leg to hold her foot as she stretched those muscles. "Oh, yeah, I never miss. Trust me, you won't want to quit once you start!" She moved onto the other leg, "This is great cardio and it gives you some super skills."

Not sure where to go with that information, Mac nodded energetically. "That's what I hear. I also heard that the instructor is bad ass."

"She's totally bad ass, for sure." The lady chuckled. "That's a great way to describe Madison. When she's here, she's tough. She gives you no excuse to slow down."

Jumping on the comment, Mac asked, "What do you mean, when she's here? Isn't she always?"

"Not the past two _Vertical Limit_ classes. And I take one of her other classes, too, and she hasn't been there either."

"Is that normal? What do they do when she's gone?"

"That's the thing; she's never missed. I mean, when her sister got sick and was in the hospital, she was here. She's too dedicated to miss."

"Wow, her sister's sick?" Mac felt herself still. "How do you know that?"

"Oh, me and Maddie are kind of friends, you know? We get smoothies at the health bar after workouts sometimes. She's a hoot."

"What's wrong with her sister? Is that where she is then?"

The woman made a face. "To be honest, Maddie's been a little quiet about that. She told me one of the last times I saw her that Lauren—that's the sister—is fine now. It was some sort of tumor on her kidney? I don't know. Anyway, she's fine now except she has to have all these expensive treatments. Maddie was _freaking _out a couple of weeks ago because her dad is losing his insurance or something."

For Madison being quiet about Lauren the lady sure knew a lot about it, Mac thought. "Wow, did he lose his job or something?" She bent down in a superficial stretch.

Shaking her head, the woman frowned. "I really don't know. Maddie was just super worried is all I know."

"Wow that sounds hard. That must be why she's missing, you think?" Mac turned to watch as the instructor for the evening entered and took her place in the front. "Maybe she just took a get away with her husband or boyfriend or something instead."

Barking out a laugh, the blond shook her head. "That would really surprise me. They told us last week she was sick. I'm Tessa, by the way."

"Cindy."

"Ladies! It's time for the _Vertical Limit!_ I'm Samantha and I will be your instructor this evening. Everyone to your poles!"

Soon the women were gyrating to the music, legs entwining around poles, bodies involved in strange and exotic movements that Mac struggled at first to keep up with. The hour long class was exhausting, especially for Mac who wasn't used to graceful, twisty, dance-like moves. Kickboxing was a completely different sport; this was more ballet-like. She enjoyed the fluidity of it; the instructor made the movements look easy, and she could easily identify those that were regulars to the class. They were the ones that had no struggle snaking their bodies to the topmost part of their poles; they could hold themselves perpendicular against the pole with just their legs, their arms fanned out around them in sensual poses. Mac could feel herself slipping into the rhythm of the music, almost doing her own routine instead of listening to the direction of the instructor. More than once, Samantha approached her to help her with her form, giving tips on where to place her hands and how to move her hips just so. A few times she even received praise at how well she was doing, which surprised and pleased her at the same time.

The first half of the class flew by quickly because she was enjoying it so much. About forty-five minutes into the routine, however, as she was following the direction of Samantha to do a 'Sumo Squat to a Hair Flick'—involving her back against the pole, one hand above her head, grasping it, then sliding down ever so slowly (and, if Mac did admit, ever so erotically) raising up to circle the pole, bending over and flicking her head back in a seductive pose—was when she saw him. Just as she had slid down the pole, Mac opened her eyes to the mirror, to check her form; but her eyes froze instead on the image of Dick staring wide-eyed at her, his lower lip caught in his teeth. The mirror reflected the whole of the room to where Dick's face was framed in the small window encased in the doorway. Right at that moment, Samantha chose to come critique her, and, having little choice, Mac began the movements again and again until the instructor was satisfied with her improvement. When she looked again, Dick had disappeared from the door.

_Omigod._ Mac couldn't believe him. What was Dick doing, ogling at their class, when he should have been in cycling with Alex Jr? Why did he have to choose that moment to look? Although, if she were completely honest with herself, was there really an ideal time for him to be watching? The whole class was based on sex appeal. From start to finish, Samantha had them gyrating in almost embarrassingly orgasmic fashion. It wasn't for the prudish. Offhandedly, she wondered how many of these women ran home to jump their men right after this class. She definitely could see the advantage of having one of those at home waiting for her.

There were only ten minutes left until cool down, for which Mac was glad. As much fun as she was having, her mind kept going back to whether Dick had realized that she had seen him watching, or if he registered that she had put her full effort in when Samantha had been helping, _because_ she knew he was watching. Subconsciously, Mac liked that _his _watching _her_ turned her on a little more, even more so than the movements and music going on around her. It heightened her senses to think that he might be watching even this very moment. Telling herself to get a grip, she focused her attention on the last minutes of the class and then finally, it was over.

As everyone packed up to leave, Mac smiled at Tessa, the woman next to her. "Wow that was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I might just have to sign up to be a regular!" Packing her water bottle into her bag, she zipped the bag closed and slung it over her shoulder. "Do you know when the real instructor…uh…Madison? When she's supposed to get back?"

Tessa pulled her hair out of her face and drew a hairband around it to make a ponytail. "I don't know that. But this was a different substitute tonight, she was pretty good. I think if you come back, you'll be happy with it. I sure am." Bending down, she grabbed her own bag and stood up straight. "But personally I think she probably just needed some down time and I bet she'll be back later in the week." With that, Tessa said her goodbyes and headed for the doorway.

Turning in a circle, she saw that Veronica had latched onto a dark-haired woman in the back, so Mac decided to step up to Samantha, who seemed distracted as she was tossing clothing into a large duffle bag. Going with perky excitement, Mac plastered a huge smile on her face. "That was really great. Thanks so much for all your pointers, I've never done this before tonight, so it really helped. You're a great instructor!"

The instructor glanced up from her work. "Oh, why thank you! I actually used to be a professional…you know, dancer. I worked down at the Seventh Veil."

"Seriously? Well, then, no _wonder _you're so great at this. Are you the regular instructor for this?" Mac hoisted her bag higher on her shoulder. "If you have so much experience, you definitely should be."

"Actually, no, I'm just substituting tonight for the Ten's regular instructor who's out on personal time." Samantha looked around as if suddenly uncomfortable, "They called me in for this week. I work full-time at The Max as a Pole-Cardio Instructor there." She cleared her throat and winked. "You did awesome for your first time. You should definitely keep it up."

"They called you in for this whole week? Where's the regular instructor, on vacation?"

Samantha pointedly looked at the clock on the wall. "I really couldn't say. They just told me that she had emailed some long excuse and that they needed someone ASAP. I have to get over to the Max now for my class there at seven. Sorry, I'd love to chat…but…" reaching into her bag, she produced a business card and slyly handed it to Mac. "I would love to have you in my regular class, if you aren't attached to the Ten. You were enthusiastic and caught on really quickly, which is a must for pole-cardio." She lowered her voice, "The price is better over there. Look it up online, my class is called _PolePlay. _Think about it. I'd love to see you there." Taking the card, Mac slipped it into her shirt and under her bra. The funny thing was that Mac already was already member of The Max…so joiining in Samantha's class wouldn't be hard to do at all. Ruminating on that, Mac headed to the locker rooms to take a shower.

* * *

Veronica felt like she got nothing out of the _Vertical Limit _class except a huge case of horny. Her insides were a tight bundle of nerves, her skin was flushed and she longed for the feel of fingers cool on her skin…groaning, she tried desperately to get her mind back on the case as she rushed to catch up to April, the woman that had worked out next to her. They had started a conversation about how Madison had been acting the previous Monday and had been interrupted by the start of the class so Veronica wanted to finish the discussion.

"Hey, April! Wait up!" She called out, jogging after her, "You left your water behind!" Veronica held up the water bottle that she had taken out of April's bag just for this reason, "I thought you might miss it!"

Turning and stopping, April grinned sheepishly, "I am such a spaz! I swear I put that thing in my bag when I was packing up! Thanks!" Taking it from Veronica's outstretched hands, the two of them walked side by side to the locker room. "I would have missed this one. I like this bottle."

"I'm glad I found it then. You wouldn't want to go a week without it!" Trying to get back on their earlier conversation, Veronica dove right in, "Do you only come to the Monday classes? That's what I'm thinking I might just do." Opening the locker room door, she let April enter first. "At least until I get a better feel for it."

Reaching the rows of lockers, April unzipped her bag and found a key ring, pulling it out and selecting a small gold key, stepping up to a locker and began unlocking the lock. "That might be a good plan for a while." The lock clicked open. "I usually try for one to two a week. When Madison gets back, you'll get the true feel of it. Today was unreal, though, that Samantha lady is almost as good as Madison."

Biting back a rude remark, Veronica plowed through with, "Yeah, you were starting to tell me about that, you know, Madison? Last week, when she was here last? That sounded like quite a story."

April began pulling out shoes and a makeup bag. "I don't know if it's a story, but …"setting the items down on the bench behind her, April reached back into the depths of the locker, "Yeah, well, Madison came in just downcast that night. She came in all huffy and was pretty rough with us, and finally, at the end, I just went up to her and asked, 'what the hell is your problem?'" Getting everything out, she slammed the locker shut and faced Veronica. "She just said that she was worried about her dad's job and about some medical issues. That's about it. But it was kind of a drama-class that night."

Unsure what to think about that, Veronica frowned. "Isn't she pretty rough anyway? I've heard she's tough. Medical issues? Is she sick?"

"Well, I'm not her BFF, I don't know if it's her or what. I had heard that her sister was sick though, so that might be it." April scooped all her things into her arms. "And as for tough? Yeah, she's tough, but usually her workouts don't involve her screaming at us the entire hour."

* * *

A half an hour later, Mac stepped out of the elevator and onto the concrete floor of the parking garage, seeing right away that Veronica and Dick were already in the car, waiting. Her step weakened slightly when the two turned to watch her approach. Sliding into the front passenger seat, Mac kept her eyes on her hands, feeling Dick's hot stare burning into the back of her neck. Ignoring the rising heat there, she bent to set her bag between her feet and said loudly, "Well, I think I got a little bit of information. How did everyone else's investigations go?"

"_Very_ enlightening, actually," Dick murmured in Mac's ear when she had sat back up. Louder, he grumbled, "I think I have blisters on my balls."

"No one feels sorry for you, Dick," Veronica jibed as she maneuvered the car out of the parking spot and through the darkness of the garage, "It's the name of the biz to get some war wounds." She pulled out onto the street, turning the opposite direction of the Ten. To Mac, she said, "I found out a tiny amount, not a lot to go on. But we'll talk about it when we get to the apartment. I just text Dad before you got to the car, and he's meeting us there."

Mac sat back in her seat, glad for the silence that the convertible afforded her, the wind noisily blowing, making it hard to hear each other over the hum of the traffic. She closed her eyes, relishing the feel of the air tangling in her hair, short as it was. Behind her, she could feel Dick's legs hitting into the back of her seat, wriggling as he adjusted his long legs, attempting to get comfortable. Ignoring him, Mac kept her eyes tightly shut, even as Veronica began speaking next to her. Instead of answering her friend, she ignored her as well, concentrating on everything invading her senses. She could smell the sweet citrus of the orange trees and the exotic flavors from the multiple restaurants that lined the streets. She listened to the sounds of laughter and chatter as the car slowed to a stop at a traffic light, as the air ceased fanning her face, and then they were off again, her body slipping toward the console as Veronica took a right hand turn. Her eyes burned from lack of sleep, from the stress of the day, from too much thought processing in her head. She felt herself lightly doze, and before she knew it, they had stopped and parked, Veronica slamming the door as she stepped out from the driver's side, and Dick had jumped over the seat and out, opening the door for her, his eyes concerned, a question lighting them asking what he could do to help her.

The quick shake of her head told him to leave her, and she barely caught the slight eye roll he gave her before he turned around and sauntered across the lot and to the apartment. Sighing, she willed herself awake, unlatched her seat belt, grabbed her bag, and exited the car to head after him, her muscles screaming from the sudden movement, the proof of her workout. Veronica hadn't been joking on Friday when she complained of being sore.

* * *

When Mac let herself into the apartment, she saw that Keith was already there, waiting with take-out bags lining the table. Veronica was busily getting out plates and pulling out glasses from the cabinet. Dick was digging in the utensil drawer, gathering forks and knives, and after placing those next to the food, headed to the fridge to grab the water pitcher that was there. Taking the glasses that Veronica had just pulled out, he filled all four of them and brought them to the table, where Keith took out the containers of food, handing Dick the now empty bags to set on the counter next to the microwave.

"Look at you, all handy," Veronica drolly commented, handing him napkins, which he immediately placed on the table, "I almost don't recognize this helpful side of you. Is this the Richard part of the Dickster?"

Dick sat down when he found nothing more to do and retorted, "You know, Ronnie, I'm surprised at you. I mean, really, I own my own place, I do know my way around a kitchen." He pushed out the chairs on either side of him with his feet, "And, FYI, I'm _very _handy. They call me the Handy Dick."

"More like the Handsy-Dick." Veronica sat down in one of the proffered chairs. "I think you may have been hearing that wrong all these years." She passed him a plate and began digging into the containers of lasagna and salad, not waiting for Mac or Keith to join them. "Get it while it's hot, folks. No promises we'll leave you any."

Strolling over to sit across from Dick, Keith filled a plate with food, waiting until Mac had sat down in the only chair left before asking how it had gone for all of them at The Ten. Mac waited for a moment until she was sure no one would beat her to tell their story first, and began with, "I found out that Madison has been worried about Lauren and something about her dad losing his insurance benefits. Apparently even though Lauren is getting better, she has to have treatments that are super expensive. And I spoke with the instructor; she told me that she's substituting for a week because Madison emailed management asking for the week off. That's about all on my end."

"An email? Really?" Keith sat back, munching on a bread stick. "Maybe we can get into their system and read it…Mac?"

"Consider it done. Not a problem at all. I want to get back into her account anyway, so it probably will be there if she's using that account. If not, we can still access The Ten's."

"I talked to a lady named April that takes the class steadily, and what she told me basically confirms what Mac just said about the insurance… that Madison had been worried about her dad's job and worried about medical issues, which I assume meant Lauren….and now, most likely, that the treatments won't be covered by insurance. " Veronica supplied. She took a long drink of water. "I didn't find out much else. I'm glad to know about the email that gives us something to work from."

While they processed this, Keith focused on Dick, asking, "And what did Mr. Casablancas find out in his class?"

Having finished eating, Dick had been watching the exchange between all three of his dinner mates. Addressing Keith, he said, "I can give the word for word account if you'd like…since I might not know what's important or not."

* * *

_Dick watched Mac turned, giving him a quick finger wave as she left to head to the locker room and change. He finished up with the front-end clerk and then headed his own way to the men's locker room and the on to the cycling class._

_As he entered the room, he could see that he had the choice of machines, but held back, first by tying his shoes, and then to 'stretch,' buying time until more men filled the room, hopefully to scope out and cycle next to Alex Jr. Keith had shown him a picture of Alex Jr., so Dick knew he was waiting to find a tall, lean dark haired man, wearing designer workout clothes and, as Dick defined certain people, completely Yuppified. He expected this Alex Jr. to have an air of importance, since he was the owner's son, maybe a keep-to-himself type of guy. So he was surprised that the moment Alex Jr. appeared, all the others in the class greeted him with a nod and a "Hey," as if they knew him personally._

_Alex Jr. chose a bike near the front, thankfully where there was one empty bike to the left of him, so Dick confidently strolled up to it, meeting the man' s eyes with a nod, and mounted it. Looking down at the screen attached to the handlebars, Dick made his attempt at conversation with his mark._

_"Wow, I don't really know what I'm doing, ha." Dick tipped his head over to look closer at Alex Jr.'s screen. "Do they explain much about how to work these things? I maybe should have taken a beginner's guide to Gym-taking. All these machines are cray-cray, you know?"_

_Chuckling, Alex Jr. leaned towards Dick's machine and punched the ON switch. The screen lit up and Alex Jr. pushed through a menu, "Here's the workout menu, you can choose you endurance level, but the instructor has all the machines linked to the same program, so you really don't have to think about it after the class starts."_

_Dick flicked his hair out of his face. "Thanks, dude." He chose an endurance level. "Is this guy tough?"_

_"I wouldn't be here if he were easy. That's the whole point, right? Why would I waste even the thirty minutes on a pointless workout otherwise?" Alex Jr. pulled his water bottle from the cup holder and took a long swig. "Besides, it's all up to me, right? If I don't sweat, I didn't make it count. You have to want it, man; it's not the instructor's problem."_

_"Ah, hardcore, are you? What makes you so tough?"_

_A chuckle. "Hardcore is right. This is my baby, The Ten. I have to be Hard core." He placed the water bottle back in the holder. "If I'm not hard core, why would any of my member's want to be hard core?"_

_This was almost too easy, Dick thought. "You own The Ten?" _

_Taking the bait, Alex Jr. answered, "It's a family business, but basically, yeah, I own The Ten."_

_"Wow, what's it like, owning something like this? And family, huh? Ever butt heads against executive decisions?" Dick glanced up at the clock; he had five more minutes to get as much information as possible. "If my dad and I ran a biz together, it would not be pretty."_

_Alex Jr. gave him a long sideways look. "Yeah, you know, it's hard sometimes. But I'm about to buy out my brother's share, because he doesn't want the headache of butting heads. He doesn't get along with any of us, and it's time he gets out of here and starts in on something else. My father is about to retire, so yeah, I make all the decisions as it is. Mark just votes yes or no once in a while when he shows."_

_"You mean your bro's just a figurehead? Nice. Does he free load, is that why you want him outta here?"_

_Adjusting in his bike seat, Alex Jr. responded, "Free load? He's the king of free load. Goes on business trips and ends up at all the clubs and strip joints instead."_

_"Now that's the life….I can see why you'd be a little upset. Why don't you just join in the fun? The family business is the family business after all…they wouldn't kick you out, right? Take all the vacations you want whenever you want."_

_"Man, I'm too hardcore, like you said. Hardcore in everything. I'll leave it to Mark to relax in the sun while I work my ass off."_

_"Maybe you should just kick him out of his hammock on the beach or…wait, I bet you have some sort of villa in Tuscany. You should just quit work and go to your villa, dude, you sound like you could use it," Dick grinned pointing at Alex Jr. with his forefinger, "It's your time in the sun."_

_Alex Jr. chuckled. "No villa in Tuscany. A cabin near Park City though, and hell, you're making it sound nice." His gaze went to the side door, where the instructor was entering. "Why do you even care, man?"_

_Dick put his hands on the handlebars, practicing his stance as he watched the instructor come in to take his place in front of the now full room. "I was always considered the free loader back in my day, but once I got out on my own and was forced to grow up, I made something of myself. It was the best thing ever for me." His feet tried out the petals, pushing down on them to test the resistance. "If you gave your bro a chance, he might surprise you. He might grow up a bit."_

_"Mark is no kid, trust me. If he hasn't learned by now, he never will. He'll just keep looking for ways to get back into the fold to get bread and butter. He doesn't have a working bone in that body of his."_

_ The class began then. Although shorter than the aerobic classes it was no less intense, especially since Dick was unused to being on a bike. The speed and rigor was enough that when the class came to a finish, he felt his arms rise in the air as he mouthed, "Hallelujah!" in tearful proclamation of gratefulness that he had survived it. There was a ripple of laughter throughout the room as he tripped off his bike, landing ungracefully in a heap at the base of his machine. He quickly stood to his feet, grabbing his water and followed the rest of the men as they lined up to leave the room. Alex Jr. was behind him, so Dick turned to grin self-consciously at him. "That's my special dismount, man; no one else can do it quite the same." As they went through the doorway, Dick pointed to a weight bench. "Want me to spot you quick?"_

_Alex Jr. shook his head. "No, man, I have to get back to the office by six, sorry. Besides," he pointedly took in Dick's obvious injuries, "is that smart, considering your cast? What the hell happened to you?"_

_Dick glanced down at his arm, he had forgotten all about it. "Oh these? Just flesh wounds. You should see the other guy. Dude," he raised his eyebrows mockingly, "Don't you work here? I mean, thirty minutes to walk to the back of the building? You're going to be early."_

_"No, _dude,_ my office is about fifteen minutes away. I have just enough time to shower, get dressed, and head there. The Ten is just one of my many pots in the fire. I do have an office here in the back, but I split my time between offices; my meeting tonight is for the other company, so I have to go now." Alex Jr. stepped away from Dick, "It was fun watching you cycle and you should come back. You can be the comic relief of the class."_

* * *

"That's it; that's all I got out of him. Sorry, I know it's not much." Dick picked at his half-eaten bread stick. "I wanted to try for more, but he was in a crazy hurry. Then I had to kill the last half hour because he went into some kind of platinum members only locker room that had a special code and there was no way I could talk myself into that one. He was on a mission to get on with his night."

Keith had been listening intently and now said, "You actually did really well, Dick, I'm impressed. Did you notice anything else after the class while you were waiting for the girls to finish up theirs?"

Pausing, Dick darted a quick glance towards Mac. "No, not really. I pretty much just went and changed and left."

Now that was a lie, Mac knew. He had deliberately sought out their class and watched, but she wasn't about to volunteer that information. Instead, she asked Keith, "Do you want me to look up records for property in or near Park City?"

Nodding, Keith said, "Yeah, I do. That was really good to hear, Dick, because it just so happens that Mark was to be in Utah last Wednesday to present at a conference there. He was to fly in on Thursday morning and leave for New York last night." His gaze sharpened on her. "According to the information you forwarded me earlier, Mark's been on every flight he's been scheduled on. Plus, everything I found so far regarding conference and hotel rosters confirm he's been showing up everywhere he's supposed to up to now."

"Yeah, that's right, Keith. I haven't found any movement on Madison's driver's license, passport, social security number, or any credit cards, but Salt Lake is close enough that she could have driven there instead of flown. She could just be using cash." Mac stood and went over to where her computer bag sat, digging through it. "But the reference Mark makes about 'being there a two p.m. sharp' could blow that theory, unless that didn't mean to meet him somewhere right then." Finding the printed out emails, she set them down in the middle of the table as the others moved the food containers to give her space. "See this?" She pointed, "'_Be there at two sharp tomorrow. You know where. You know what to bring. Did you get it all?' _There is nothing about _meeting _him, just to_ be _there by two. So being somewhere by two could have nothing to do with meeting him. He might have just wanted her to be at a certain place with everything she needed to get a clean getaway to where ever she's going to meet him. She could have hopped a Greyhound or found a car he had hidden earlier for her. Who knows?"

While she was rambling, Dick had picked up the sheet of paper and was reading what was written there. "What's all is this?" He asked, pointing out where Mac had highlighted and drawn question marks over the top of the typed words, "What is she doing for this guy?"

Veronica perked up suddenly, "You know, Dick, you might understand those emails better because you dated Madison. Did she ever refer to drugs as candy?"

Eyes skimming over the emails, Dick shook his head. "For everything Madison did, drugs were never one of them, actually. I never heard her call them anything." Laying the sheet down, he ran his fingers over the words lightly. "Do you think she's getting drugs for this loser?"

Mac observed Dick, wondering if it was jealousy she heard in his voice, referring to Madison and her newest lover. He certainly didn't act or look jealous, but she wondered nonetheless. "We think she's been asked to get something for him, and they both refer to a white suit, bag of goodies, and candy."

"Candy?" Dick dropped in closer to find the reference, "_I know exactly how to work candy._" He leaned back, a perplexed look on his face. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Madison work at The Ten?"

"Great observation, Dick-o." Veronica adjusted in her seat, leaning in to see the emails closer as well. "We know this."

"Well, then, you might have noticed that the clerk working the front desk is named _Candy._ I know, because I spoke with her tonight. We talked about the benefits of having a co-ed _Vertical Limit_ class and then she asked me out."

"Of _course,"_ Mac rolled her eyes in disgust. "Every tight-chested bimbo goes nut-so for Dick-o. When's this happening?"

"Hey, I told her I'm into brunettes. No competition, there, Mackie. You know it." He winked at her. "I wouldn't risk it."

Before she could bite out a retort, Veronica held her hand up and interrupted saying, "Dick, I think you're on to something with this. I can't believe I didn't make the connection. I was convinced that it was drugs, but looking over this, I'm thinking that Madison needed to take something out of the Ten without Candy seeing. She knows just how to talk to/work Candy to get around her, I bet." Grinning, Veronica sat back in triumph. "We need to find out what was at The Ten that Madison could possibly have taken and why."

* * *

Hours later, after everyone had settled in for the night, Veronica lay alone in her bed, thinking about the past twelve hours, amazed at the turn of events. They had made significant headway on the Sinclair case and tomorrow would most likely bring them even closer to finding Madison. She had a good feeling about the connection to Utah. She had looked at the map and found that Park City was not too far from the Salt Lake International Airport. If she had to guess, she would say that Mark had Madison meet him in Park City and then they were going to skip the country.

They hadn't gotten very far on Dick's case since they had been so involved with getting to the Ten and piecing together the Tennison son's timeline. Because of that, she had told Mac that in the morning, she wanted to dedicate the first few hours on his case. The last thing that they had worked on regarding his case was the footage at the Grand and waiting on a phone call from Weevil regarding his car. She wanted to call him first thing in the morning to check on both Dick and Madison's vehicles.

Fingering the bracelet that rested on her wrist, Veronica remembered the envelope that was enclosed in Logan's package to her. Sitting up, she pulled it out from her bag, fingers brushing over the seal before quickly ripping it open and taking the letter from within it, unfolding the paper, and as she did so, a picture fell into her lap. She picked it up, turning it into the light to see a picture of a grinning Logan by his plane, helmet held to his side in his flight gear. She loved how relaxed and happy he looked, like he had not a care in the world. Eagerly, she began reading:

_Dearest Veronica,_

_Have you ever wondered why mountains are often named after women's breasts? This has been of topic as of late at dinner as we juvenile hormonal men sit around missing our female counterparts. We went by an island this past week, and I'm telling you, I kept seeing your shape in the midst of the peaks there…it made me desperate to feel your touch, for my mouth to touch the innermost part of you…to just lie still and be with you._

_I wonder if you ever get that desperate for me? In all the years we were apart, there was something that only you, Veronica, could satisfy within me, and I only want you to satiate. Your touch is like ice to my fire; it's exciting and makes me sizzle for what is to come. There are many lonely nights on this ship, with only bunk mates and white walls to stare at…some of the days it's so hot out that we don't come from below deck and my mind plays tricks on me in my bed. I dream of you here, with me, touching me, loving me…and then I awake and I realize how much better it's going to be when it's truly us together, and not just my imagination._

_The enclosed picture is one that I was able to get printed and I wanted you to have…I wish I was there with you now…warming you in the night. _

_Love you always. Spanning continents,_

_Logan_

Tucking the letter back into its envelope, Veronica placed it in her nightstand, which was brimming with similar letters that she had received over the past six months. Switching her lamp off, she buried herself into her blankets, content with the reminder that he, too, was missing and longing for her as much as she was missing and longing for him.

**A/N: Hopefully my letters from Logan are believable. I'm a girlie-girl at heart I suppose.-Next chapter is Dick's mystery mostly. Thanks for reading!**


	11. Chapter 11 Information Overload

**A/N: Warning: Rated T for language. There are 2 F** bombs here. I don't like to write F**bombs, but this situation seemed completely called for it. I think you all will agree.  
**

Chapter 11 Information Overload

Somehow, Mac made it through the night without any awkward incidents with Dick. He had helped clean up after their late supper with the Mars' and then had headed to take a shower, staying far out of both Veronica and Mac's way well after Keith had left to go home. He had behaved in a perfectly courteous way, soft spoken and calm.

When he returned to his spot on the couch, Dick had turned the television on, keeping the volume down low, ignoring Mac as she passed back and forth, readying the apartment for the night. When she had finally said good night, Dick had given her a deep, smoldering stare, his blue eyes inviting her to join him. Shrugging when she had not responded, he muttered good night and returned watching whatever it was that he had been watching.

There was a moment when it flashed in her mind what would happen if she sat down beside him. Imagining his surprised response, with his eager hands on her body, she almost caved. But as she watched him, something twisted inside her, and the moment passed. Shutting herself into her room, Mac found herself standing still at the door, listening for signs of whether Dick would try to barge into her room. She felt almost…disappointed…when there was none. She readied herself for bed and crawled in, staring at the ceiling, confused and frustrated at her feelings. Mac could hear the sounds of the television, low as it was, sifting through under her door. It took a long time to fall asleep.

* * *

She purposely had set her alarm an hour earlier than normal. With Keith's request for Madison's email to the Ten and Veronica's request to work on Dick's case part of the morning, Mac knew she needed the extra time at the office. She needed the solitude. Instead of sleeping past three snooze buttons, she dragged herself out of her bed as quietly as she could, took a shower, dressed, and exited her room, intending to sneak past Dick and leave, hitting a coffee shop on the way to MI. But as soon as she entered the living room, Mac saw right away that sneaking by would not be an option.

Obviously waiting for her, Dick held out one of two coffees he held in his hands towards her. "I heard you get up."

She took the extended cup. "Wow, don't you sleep in?"

"I've been surfing my entire life. Sleeping in equals lost waves. Beauty sleep is for pussies." He motioned towards the table. "I left a note telling Ronnie we went to the office. And, by the way, someone needs to take me in to get these stitches out of my face….they're starting to itch."

Mac made a face. "Gross. I didn't need to know that, thank you very much." She didn't follow as Dick turned to open the door. "Really, you can just stay here; it's going to be pretty boring at the office." Not stopping, Dick opened the door and stepped out, ignoring her. When it was clear that he wouldn't be swayed out of going, Mac sighed and grabbed her bags to follow him out to her parked car. There was no one around; it was too early in the morning, so she called out to him, "Hey, well, what if I don't want you there? I need to focus on work."

That stopped him. He swiveled around with a gleam in his eye. "Are you saying you can't focus with me around? Am I that distracting to you?" He circled back around towards the car. "You can relax, Mac, I need to do some work myself. I was hoping to borrow one of those many computers you have while you work away, if that's possible." He waited by the passenger door until Mac pulled her keys and unlocked the car with the fob. "I promise to keep my hands to myself and give you no distractions."

* * *

_Why wasn't Dick making another move? _Mac pondered on that the whole way to MI and the whole time she helped to set a lap top up for him to use at the couch. He acted as if the whole incident from two nights previous hadn't even happened, as if he had never told her "this is going to happen." Thinking back to how firm his resolve had been when he had stated it, she was utterly clueless as to why he was keeping his distance, especially after the 'incident' from last night-why hadn't he been teasing her mercilessly about the _Vertical Limit_ class? It was beyond her. Dick was behaving like a perfect gentleman that was not plagued with a high libido. He seemed calm and in control.

Thinking about that made her realize that Dick wasn't even acting like a person going through withdrawal. She watched as he crouched over the keyboard, his attention fixed on whatever it was he was working on. She had picked up some pamphlets about the signs of withdrawal, and while it specifically said that not all people exhibited the same symptoms, it did say that at least some would be apparent. As much as she could tell, he didn't have _any _real signs. He hadn't even asked once for a drink in three days and there was nowhere that he could be sneaking a drink…she and Veronica had emptied their one cupboard out and someone had been with him the entire time. She supposed he could have been sneaking out at night, but she honestly doubted that possibility.

Sitting down at her desk, Mac decided to quit obsessing and get to work. It wasn't helping anyone by worrying about emotional states; she needed to keep working on the cases. She had a feeling that today or tomorrow Veronica would take what she had learned to the Sinclair's, and with that, Mac's life would be forever changed. The best thing Mac could possibly do was to concentrate on the tasks at hand, which for her was a cyber-chase. She booted up her computers and set to work.

There were multiple things that she needed to get done today which was why she had chosen to come in earlier than everyone else. The extra hour of silence would help her to concentrate and find the exact time-stamped video footage of the front of the Grand, away from prying eyes. No one knew that she had been there as well on Thursday night and she wanted to keep it that way. It was a humiliating fact that she had been drawn there. Dick's demons had understandably brought him there that night, but Mac felt like people thought she was stronger than her demons. But the truth was that those demons had brought her to the Grand that night and to the spot where Cassidy's life had ended. It was amazing, really, that she had missed Dick by mere minutes, if his timeline was right. She was about to find out.

Tapping on her keyboard, she pulled up the Grand's page, bypassing the firewalls and going directly into the security footage. She pulled up June third and scrolled through the various camera angles, which were labeled in code. It would take time to figure out which camera she wanted since it wasn't straight forward. The page contained a spreadsheet showing each coded area in its own column. Each column held the footage for the entire day, meaning she could click to watch the beginnings of each to verify the area and then she would be able to skip to the time she needed to look at. Mac considered asking Dick to help with this task, but looking to where he sat, engrossed in his work, she changed her mind. Whatever work he was doing, it seemed important. She kept at it instead.

It took almost thirty minutes, but she finally found the camera footage that showed the front of the Grand. It took another ten to get to the footage of six forty p.m. and beyond. Mac played it at normal speed and let the footage roll as she watched carefully, looking for signs of either her or Dick. The foot traffic seemed light, which, if she remembered correctly, was the case when she was there; most people seemed to park in the garage and enter from the side elevator. There was a valet standing at his post, looking bored. He stood hunched over the valet podium, chin resting on both hands, staring out towards the road. A few people passed him to enter the front door…and then Dick sauntered out, opening the door widely to let a woman in before he stepped further out onto the stoop of the hotel entrance.

He didn't look drunk at all. He was dressed in typical board shorts and a t-shirt, flip flops on his feet. His step was sure as he passed the valet, heading toward the right edge of what the camera picked up, disappearing out of the shot. There was no suspicious movement for about three minutes, until a man in a dark suit exited the building and handed the valet a parking ticket. In his hand he held a bottle of water. Mac felt the hair on the back of her neck stick up.

The valet found the appropriate key and headed left, towards the parking garage and out of the shot. At that point, the suited man glanced around as if looking for someone and then walked over to the area where Dick had disappeared out of the shot a few minutes before. Two minutes passed, and then Dick's obvious blond mane and his shoulder appeared at the bottom edge, darting in and out of the scene as if he were speaking or arguing with someone off camera, and then he was gone. The suited man then returned, setting his elbow on the edge of the Valet's stand, as if waiting, leaning into where the box of keys were, fidgeting there. When he rose back up, instead of watching for the Valet with his vehicle, he turned toward the doors of the hotel. Mac checked the time stamp. If her recollection was correct…she knew what was about to happen.

* * *

_Thursday Night, 7:00 p.m._

_Mac stepped out of the elevator and strolled into the lobby, glancing around at all the people that were milling about, tugging at the short skirt of her dress. Although no one was paying attention to her, she felt conspicuous dressed as if she were waiting to begin a fancy date. In honor of proving to Cassidy that she was her own woman that was held back by nothing, she had worn a dress that she rarely wore: a navy blue sleeveless one-piece number, with crisscross straps that tied around her neck halter style. The heels she wore were leather gray peep-toes that zipped in the back. When she had chosen the outfit that morning, she hadn't taken into account that she would be alone. Mac had just wanted to look good and feel good about herself tonight. There hadn't been a plan beyond that, and she wasn't really even sure how she had ended up at the Neptune Grand. But the pull had been strong and she hadn't fought it, instead choosing to go along with the urge to pay tribute to a boy whose life had ended much too soon in a much too horrible way. _

_It felt wrong suddenly, being here. She needed fresh air. Turning back toward the elevator that would take her back to her car, her eyes caught on the front lobby door and she felt a need to go out that way instead. Fresh air was just beyond her reach, if she would just take the few steps necessary to get there._

_With a burst of energy, she beat a path toward the door and as she stepped out, a dark suited man rushed to hold open the door for her, as he was coming in from outside. Pleased with the gentleman-like gesture, Mac gave a weak smile, clinging to sanity. "Thank you so much."_

_The man smile kindly back, his perfectly white teeth gleaming. "Absolutely. Anything for a pretty lady."_

_Oh, brother. She really didn't have time for his shenanigans. Automatically, her back straightened and she turned back to really look at him. She smiled tightly, but kept on her way out past the awning and into the soft light of the evening. Tipping her head back, she stared up at the high-rise building, her mind forgetting about the man until she realized he had followed her out to where she stood, looking up with her. "Nice evening, huh?"_

_Her eyes slid over to look at him, her expression unimpressed. "I guess so, yeah." Stepping away from him, Mac took her time to look around, thinking back to ten years before. She had been spared that night from having to see what had become of Cassidy…the police figured out right away that Mac was nothing more than a victim and ushered her out through the back of the hotel and away from prying eyes, also away from the crime scene. But she knew where Cassidy had landed and she knew how gruesome the scene had been. She had asked all the questions that her morbid curiosity could think to ask, and Veronica, being the good friend that she was, had told her. It had been almost ten years since that conversation, but Mac still remembered it word-for-word. It had caused her pain then and caused her pain now._

_Her mourning, however, was being interrupted at this moment by an imbecile who clearly was not reading her body language very well. Mac just wanted to be left alone, but this buffoon was still being a complete creeper. He had taken his jacket off and was standing there as if waiting for her to suddenly realize that he was God's gift to women. His grin was slimy and made her skin crawl. She wondered how to get away from him without making an obvious scene._

_She was spared the awkwardness of that when the sound of running feet on pavement interrupted the silence, and she heard, "Hey man, sorry it took so long but this ticket and key didn't match up to the car back there…." Mac stopped listening as the suited man became involved with his conversation with the valet, choosing at that moment to head back inside of the Grand and back to her car. _

* * *

Unbelievable. She had literally missed Dick by two minutes and had run straight into the man that they believed drugged him. When she had first heard Dick's account, she had assumed that there was no way that could have been the case and had pushed all thought of it aside, focusing on the hope that he was drugged at the beach. But this video proved that this man, whom Dick had assumed worked for the Grand, did not actually work there. Mac could verify it, because the valet would have recognized an employee to start with. And, as far as she knew, employees would not check their vehicles in with Valet.

Chewing her lip, Mac clicked back to the point where Dick exited the building. Hoping to see proof of his 'public drunkenness' she slowed the feed down to see any slight stumble or waver on his part. Her suspicion was that any odd behavior he might have been exhibiting would have been from grief, not liquor, and sure enough, on second observation nothing struck her as off. Averting her eyes from where Dick was now quietly working, her movements became carefully controlled as she zoomed the footage in as clearly as she could possibly get it to the front door, to see if maybe the suited man had been hovering there while Dick left the building.

There was nothing to see from this view, so Mac quickly saved the file to a zip drive and went back to the original file on the Grand's server and began once again scrolling through the code to find the camera angle inside the Grand pointing to the entrance. Checking the time, Mac saw she might only have ten minutes at the most before Keith and Veronica arrived for the morning. Her fingers flew even faster than before, trying to get through as much footage as possible. Finding the angle within a few minutes, Mac was able to get to the right spot in the feed much quicker than with the first bit of footage of the outside.

Coinciding with the time stamp from the outside, she clicked play right at the moment that Dick came into view from the direction of where she knew the bar was located. He made his way to the door, pausing once to look back at the lobby with a lost look on his face and turned back to head out the door. The woman he had opened the door for entered, a smile on her face as she past him, Mac could see her tell him 'thank you' and she disappeared off toward the restaurant. As she disappeared from the screen, the suited man appeared, walking slowly towards the front door from the bar, a cell phone to one ear, a water bottle in his other hand. It was apparent that the conversation was heated as the man began pacing back and forth in front of the door, and when he disconnected, he stared out the door for a few moments. Shaking the water bottle, he examined it before seemingly bracing himself and heading out.

The minutes ticked by and then Mac herself came into the view; self-consciously tugging at the hem of her dress. She saw herself pause, to take in the whole of the lobby, and then steel herself to step out onto the front sidewalk. Again more time passed before she reappeared, resolutely heading toward the parking garage elevator and to her car.

Pausing the footage, Mac stared silently at the screen. Dick was typing away at whatever it was he was working on, completely ignoring her. She rolled her chair out away from the desk, pushing the edge of the mahogany desktop with her hands. How was she going to explain that she had been there, had even talked to their suspect? Thinking back, Mac knew she hadn't recognized him at all. The most she could do was recall what the video showed and maybe the tone of voice, which was deep. Woot for her. Her description was as piss-poor as the worst witness descriptions ever were. How helpful was that going to be?

Sunlight was bleeding in through the window, casting eerie shadows across the dark paneled walls. It gave Mac a sense of foreboding as she cleared her throat to ask, "Hey, Dick? Do you have a sec?"

A hand shot up, silently conveying he was in the middle of something, so she waited without comment. From below, she could hear the slamming of a car door and knew that one of her partners had arrived for the morning, right on time. Mac saved her work while she waited for Dick and began to hack into the City of Neptune's mainframe, trying to find camera footage from the beach.

This was what she was good at: hacking and cracking into the cyber world. All this super-sleuthing was beginning to wear her down. It was quick work, getting into the security end of the city's site; it took her less than half the time than it had taken to get into the Grand's. Clicking her way through all the firewalls, she merely nodded at both Keith and Veronica when they stepped into the office, bypassing her and going straight to their desks. When Dick finished whatever it was he had been working on and approached her, it was her turn to put a hand up to stop him. "Give me five minutes."

The five minutes she requested was merely an avoidance tactic. Mac knew Veronica really needed to see the Grand's footage. As much as she dreaded to admit it, Mac was a key witness in Dick's case. Clicking out of the city's site, Mac closed down her internet connection and booted up the saved footage from the zip drive. Taking calming breaths, she stood up from her desk and strolled into the back office, stepping up to Veronica's desk and waiting for her to finish up a phone call. As Veronica set the receiver back into the cradle, Mac told her, "There has been a development in Dick's case that I need to consult with you about. I'm pretty sure it's a huge break. Do you have some time to sit down with Dick and me?"

"As a matter of fact, I have news as well. Weevil says that the Land Rover was 'processed' on Sunday. It was already stripped when they got it."

* * *

Instead of showing the footage right away, Mac decided to do some interrogating first. After watching the tape a few times through she had come to the determination that someone had definitely planned to target Dick that night, whether the suited man was acting alone or not. She had both Veronica and Dick sit across from her at her desk. Before she sat down in her own chair, Mac firmly shut the door between offices to afford them some privacy.

Looking both of them squarely in the eye, Mac asked, "Can you think of any reason, big or small, why someone would want to cause you harm, Dick?"

Dick didn't answer right away. Instead, he fidgeted with the arm rest of his chair, his eyes cast down, obviously thinking. Cynically, he finally answered, "I don't have any enemies, Mac. Everyone loves me."

"Dick, plenty of people has a motive to drug you. Let's talk about the possibilities," Veronica piped up next to him. "Who have you made mad?"

He threw his hands in the air in frustration. "I don't know why you think I should know that! I mean, honestly, I have just been minding my own business. I haven't wanted to piss anyone off lately."

Taking that in, Mac ran her fingers over her mouth. "Tell me about Thursday. I mean the whole day and not just after work." Dick noticeably stiffened. Mac watched as he effectively put an invisible wall up around him, seeming to shut down. "Did someone know you were headed to the Grand that night?"

Veronica seemed to notice his hesitance as well. She turned to face him in her chair. "Look, Dick, tell us what we can do to make you trust us." She paused, hesitant herself. "I promise… to protect you if you're into something illegal."

Her words caused Dick to push even further back in his own chair. "What, you think that _I'm _into fraud, now, too? Or that I'm what? Trafficking drugs?"

"Well," Veronica quietly pointed out, "Can you blame me?"

He dragged his good hand through his hair, muttering under his breath. He scowled at Veronica. "No, I guess I can't, but it would be nice if you would at least believe in me a little bit."

"Dick." His eyes flew over to meet Mac's. "Who have you made mad? Someone wanted to get even with you for something, and they took their opportunity that night. You need to wrack your brain for anything and everything that you have ever done. Someone did this to you on purpose. Just tell us what you did on Thursday; it might be that you cut someone off in traffic, it could be that small. Please."

Flicking his hair back, Dick's eyes roamed the room and finally came to a decision. Sighing deeply, he nodded, as if to himself. "Okay, but this can't go beyond this room, all right? No one really knows what I'm doing and I want it to stay that way."

"Even Logan?" Veronica prodded.

"Well, he knows a little bit. Nothing lately. But he's not saying anything." He straightened in his chair. "Uh, so, well, basically on Thursday, everything was a normal work day except at one o'clock, I met with the County Board about buying a piece of property deep in 09er country."

"Huh." Veronica sat back in her chair. "You're building a new house? What's wrong with the beach house?" She looked unconvinced. "Who cares about some property?"

Dick rolled his eyes. "It's not property for a house…it's a business venture."

"You're expanding the Water Dog?" Mac asked. "That's great that it's going so well, Dick."

He was silent for a few moments, chewing his lip. "The property isn't for the Water Dog, either. I found a piece of property that I want to renovate for a different reason completely. That's why I need you not to say anything about my involvement. I'm trying to be a silent partner. It's really important to me that my name not be involved with this project at all."

The two women shared a look, and Veronica finally said, "I'm hoping that your reasons are admirable, Dick, but when you say it like that, it sounds as if it's illegal."

"Oh. My. Hell. Veronica. Can't you get over that, Ronnie? I am not doing anything illegal!"

"Well, then explain it to me." Veronica crossed her legs. "Mars Investigations is known for its discretion, Dick. We won't breathe a word if we can help it. But if it boils down to the fact that this is the reason you were attacked, it won't be us that you'll need to be worried about."

Dick flopped himself back into his chair in defeat. "I found some property, okay? I want to open a safe place for abused kids to be able to go and learn how to cope with the world. I've been working with some people, and…." His eyes traced the edge of the desk, back and forth, back and forth. He raised them to meet Mac's eye and said meekly, "I just don't want my name involved right now. That's all."

While he was speaking, Mac felt as if all the air had whooshed out of her lungs, she was so shocked at his revelation. Her heart in her throat, she stared into his eyes, the world falling away from around them. She heard herself whisper, "But…why would you do that?"

Pursing his lips, he squint his eyes at her. "You really need to ask that?"

Veronica, always on task, cleared her throat as if to remind them of her presence. "So, this property is on prime 09er property, you say? So that would mean there might be a number of people not happy with 'trash' in their town, wouldn't you think? I could see that there might be quite a few people that wouldn't want you encouraging riffraff, and a safe haven for troubled kids? That smells of controversy."

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Dick looked over at Veronica. "Yeah, well, I don't think so. I met with the county board on Thursday and they passed my proposal. I just got the email this morning that I was waiting for, saying it's unanimous. The property has been cleared for what I want to do with it." Glancing between them, Dick went on, "If you two wouldn't have found me Friday—let's just say things could have gotten ugly. The board definitely wouldn't have liked hearing that the main donator of a foundation like this was involved in…whatever this is."

"There's your motive, Dick. Someone doesn't want you building this facility on 09er property. Who else knows about this proposal?" Veronica asked.

"Just the panel on the board, Logan knows a little, you two, uh…" Dick listed, "my real estate agent and my lawyer...oh, and I have a consultant from a similar foundation out of San Diego that I've been dealing with."

"Do you know any of the people on the panel? Have you pissed any of them off, say, in the past twenty-eight years?" Veronica motioned toward Mac. "Look up the Balboa County board members. Let's take a look at who we've got there."

Mac turned to her computer monitor and stopped. It really was time for her to show them the footage. She had stalled long enough. First, though, she pulled up the city's site which had a link to the county's site. Within a few seconds, she was looking at the all the board names, as well as the twelve member's names that were on the panel. She printed it out and handed it to Veronica.

As the two across the desk leaned over the paper, Mac shut down the internet, booted up the zip drive to queue the footage of the Grand, and waited while Dick and Veronica stared at the names. "Do you see anyone of interest?"

Dick shook his head and Veronica sighed. "This list doesn't have first names. One of us will need to do a little more digging." She looked up and noticed what Mac had on her computer screen. "Looks like you want to show us something. Is that the footage from the Grand?"

Nodding, Mac turned the monitor so it was better facing them all, and searched for the words to begin what she needed to tell them. All she really needed to do was click play and the footage would tell them what she was struggling to say. "You need to watch this, all the way through. You'll see why I'm convinced that what happened to Dick was not random." Swallowing hard, she added, "And you'll see we have a new witness."

Waiting for their understanding was a long time coming. As the footage showed Dick exit the building, both Dick and Veronica leaned in closely. They both inhaled rapidly as the suited man exited behind him, water bottle in hand. When the man handed his valet stub to the valet, Dick shook his head in disgust. And when the man disappeared and Dick's head came into view at the bottom of the screen, he just nodded. He started to speak, but Mac shushed him, only saying, "Not yet, wait."

She felt Veronica glance over at her and lean in even closer, as if realizing the importance of what was yet to come. They all watched in silence as the suited man leaned into the Valet podium and did whatever he did there. Mac tensed as she watched herself exit and the man rush to open the door for her.

"Holy shit! What the _hell_, Mac?!" Dick breathed, voice strained.

Veronica was silent, her eyes not leaving the screen, continuing to watch the footage, as the man followed Mac out of the shot and then back again, to speak with the Valet. When Mac pulled up the next bit of footage of the lobby and pressed play, Veronica wordlessly watched as the scene unfolded. She waited until Mac clicked out of the file and turned to face the two of them as if to a firing squad before commenting, "Well, that's an interesting turn of events."

"Please," Mac whispered, "Don't judge me."

Dick pulled away from the desk, hands rubbing violently into his face, pressing deep into his eye sockets. "Are you fucking _kidding _me? What were you doing at the Grand? How the _fuck_ did I miss you there? Who the _hell _was that guy?" He slammed his hands down into his lap. "This is unbelievable."

Veronica, bless her, waited until Dick's sputterings had run out of steam and sat silent in shock. When she seemed sure that he would stay quiet, she looked at both of them, and then calmly said, "Judging from Dick's response, he didn't know that man. Did you know him, Mac?"

"I had never seen him until that night. He tried to pick me up, but failed miserably. I wasn't good company that night." When Dick audibly harrumphed, Mac defensively added, "I didn't know I was there when you were there, Dick, and I for sure had no idea that this guy had anything to do with anything at all!"

"Well, why in the hell didn't you at least say you were there before now?" Dick shot accusingly at her.

Throwing her hands in the air defensively, Mac slowly said miserably, "Like you were so excited to admit you were there, too, Dick. I was embarrassed. I _am_ embarrassed. It's not something I thought was important, so I kept it quiet." There was a moment as she stared at him that something sparked between them, and then it was gone. Closing her eyes, she said to Veronica, "I can tell you for certain that the guy didn't work there; he gave the Valet a ticket that didn't match the car he went to get or something. I don't know what that was about. But the valet didn't act like he knew who he was. "

"So this guy gave me a dosed bottle of water and then asked you out? Why the hell were you even there, Mac, dressed like that? And you were pissed _I _was alone Thursday night? It's a wonder that dude didn't follow you out to your car and rape you right there in the parking garage! If he would have known you were next out that door, he could have dosed _you!_" Dick stood up, angrily pointing at her. "Do you have any _idea_ how lucky it was _me _that he dosed?" Leaning heavily back in her chair, Mac silently took what he said with no argument or defense. She deserved everything that he gave. As if realizing that she wasn't going to fight back, Dick unceremoniously sat down, clumsily bumping into the edge of the desk.

When she was sure he was not going to say anymore, Mac looked at both him and Veronica levelly. "Look, you're completely right. I think that's part of why I was so mad, Dick, because I realized what happened to you that night could have easily happened to me. It could happen to any of us at any time. But I've watched the tape a few times though, and I've decided you were definitely not a random hit." Turning back to her keyboard, Mac tapped and clicked back to the footage of when Dick left the bar and the man came out after him. "Right here, see how he's on the phone? And then he looks out the door, to where you are, Dick, watch what he does with the water bottle. It's like he's readying himself for what he has to do." She stopped the footage and turned to look at him. "He did this to you on purpose."

Keith suddenly burst through his office door with a huge grin on his face. "We got it, kids. Ms. McDougal confirmed there's a property outside of Park City that is rarely used but owned by the family. I'm meeting her with her husband now to discuss what I have found so far and hopefully discuss Madison's connection. I need you to come with me, Veronica." He stopped as he took in their sober faces. "Who died?"

"No one died, Dad, we're just finding out some information on Dick's case that we aren't sure what to do with yet." Veronica stood and stepped away from Mac's desk. "I agree completely with what Mac sees on that footage, Dick. We need to figure out who that man is; he's the key," she told them. "I think you should print a close up picture of him and take it down to the Grand; see if anyone recognizes him. Ask the Valet from that night, the bartender. And we need to look further into this list of the panel members." She disappeared into her office and reappeared with her messenger bag. "Dad and I have to go take care of this Tennison thing." She paused to really look at Mac, crinkling her face in regret. "I'm sorry, but this has to be taken care of right now. I hate to leave you."

Waving her hand, Mac told her, "We have to go get Dick's stitches out and he needs a checkup. We have plenty to do. I'll work on what I can. Don't worry about us."

During all of this, Dick had kept still, staring at Mac with an incredulous look on his face. He glanced between the two women, stood up and stomped over to where the laptop he had been working on sat on the coffee table. He sat down, pulling the computer onto his lap. Clicking through some menus, he began typing away, ignoring everyone in the room.

* * *

The office of Mars Investigations was silent save from the clacking of typing fingers. Veronica and Keith had left more than twenty minutes earlier and no words had been spoken since. Mac was working on finding out the names of those on the panel and Dick was working on…something. She really didn't know what, but she assumed it was for his foundation or whatever he was calling it.

It warmed her heart to think that Dick cared enough to even _want_ to try to help those in need. People in _real_ need. She knew that abuse was a silent epidemic that hurt countless people, children especially. She figured she knew what prompted his yearning to help. Mac herself had always secretly wished she could do something similar, but money was a definite factor. She had none. So she donated what cash she could to national organizations and donated amounts of time a few times a year to an abuse center in San Diego. She ran in a yearly awareness marathon event every September. But this thing that Dick was trying to do…it would help countless people here in Neptune. It would be unreal, what it could do for the community. It would help raise awareness, and more people would talk about it instead of ignore it.

Lost in her thoughts, Mac didn't notice that Dick had left his place at the couch to come sit across from her until his foot loudly plunked into the base of her desk. She jumped, startled. Catching his eye, she waited, letting him decide the tone of whatever it was he wanted to say.

He stared at her, hotly. She felt a slow furl of heat beginning in the base of her belly, her heart beginning a slow thudding. Finally, he asked, "Why were you at the Grand, looking like that?"

Mac didn't pretend to misunderstand. Pulling her hands into her lap, she didn't break his stare. She chose honesty. "For Cassidy."

Lightly, he shook his head. "Who can compete with a ghost?"

Exhaling, Mac shrugged. "Not like that, Dick. It was to prove something. Prove that I'm a woman now that can't be controlled by him anymore. It's done." Swallowing, she brought her hands to together on the top of her desk. "I let Cassidy rule me for too many years, Dick. He doesn't own me, but he ruled me. How can someone rule a life that they do not own? Why should I let him? I go through phases in my life, in cycles. Where I let his memory become more important than it should be. Moments of complete weakness, and it ruins things. It ruins my relationships…because no one understands why it's so hard for me. Why I have dark days." Running a finger through her hair, she smiled, chagrined. "Thursday morning started and finished as a dark day. I picked out that dress, and waited for Veronica to leave the apartment before heading out to work so she wouldn't give me a hard time about it. She completely forgot that it was June third anyway, she only would have teased me mercilessly that I had a date or something." Catching his questioning look, she shook her head self-consciously. "Anyway, after work, I went to the Max, where I take a kick-box class. Instead of going to class, though, I used the locker room and got dressed, carefully. Then I went on a cruise, kind of like you did that night. I drove by where he took me on our first date…I had a cocktail at the restaurant that he took me to on…that night. Suddenly, I felt pulled to go to the Grand. I haven't done that on June third since the first couple years after it happened. It was just too hard to go there, you know? I still don't know why I let myself go there, but I just felt an unavoidable pull to be there. I got there, parked in the garage, went to the lobby….I almost turned straight around and left, but I felt the need to go out to the front walk." Her hands were running up and down her arms now. "I went out there, I came back in…and I left. That was just after seven, according to the time-stamp. I hit a few other places and then headed back to the apartment. I changed before I got home; so that Veronica wouldn't know…she had no idea what I did that night, and never asked me about it. The only reason she even knew or remembered, I'm sure, was because she talked to Logan that night."

Listening, Dick seemed to be closely watching her every move. He waited until she appeared to be finished with her story to say, "I'm sorry you had to do all that alone, Mac. I would have gone with you if I'd known." He began tapping his foot on the ground nervously. "But I meant it when I said, you are damn lucky it wasn't you that was attacked. That guy, he had that look, Mac. There's no way to convince me otherwise."

"That was something...I had to do on my own, though, Dick. I hear what you're saying. I appreciate your concern. But it's over now." It was her turn to watch him as she asked, "How much of a drunk are you really?"

His eyes widened at the question and quickly looked down. "I like my drink," he hedged, picking at an invisible speck of dust on his pant leg.

Shaking her head, she persisted, "That's not my question. You're not acting like a person in withdrawal. I'm starting to wonder about the doctor's opinion that you can't be left alone. How much of a drunk are you?"

He inhaled and then slowly let the breath out, obviously thinking. "Look, who am I to argue with a doctor's opinion? He says I need adult supervision, I got adult supervision," he gestured over to her, "in the form of a hottie with a body. No nurse required." Shrugging, he grinned guiltily, "Doctor knows best."

Biting the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing, Mac tried to look irritated. "So you're telling me that you aren't an alcoholic?"

"Well, hell, Mac, how am I supposed to answer that? Do most alcoholics know that they have a problem? I drink a fair amount. But it doesn't cause me to act irrationally most of the time." He looked up to the ceiling, lost in thought. "Thursday was the first in a long time that I had allowed myself to drink and then drive. I only had one at the house, I swear. And then one or two at the bar at the Grand…the water that dude gave me; I drank probably half, trying to sober up. It alarmed me when he came out complaining that I was acting drunk, because I really didn't think I was drunk. I've been stone-ass drunk before, you know, back in college. Mornings when I was so sick…those are times I know I was being a public nuisance, but Thursday? I was keeping to myself; I wasn't trying to be loud or obnoxious. Then to be told that the police might be called in…well, I couldn't have that, because of the panel. If they thought I was being a nuisance, I wouldn't be considered. They would refuse me flat. So I left as fast as I could. When I got to my car…I opened that water….I swear, I thought it was sealed. I mean, I don't take opened drinks from anyone unless I watch it being poured. I wouldn't have taken it otherwise. I must have been so distracted that I didn't look at it closely. That's all I can come up with as to why I drank it."

"So you knew that the doctor was wrong, though, when he said you couldn't be trusted for the next two weeks?" Mac looked intently at him. "Why would you do that?"

"Friday scared me. I ended up in the hospital because of reckless behavior. It wasn't as if I knew at that point that I was drugged….I honestly thought that I had indulged myself in too much and lost control. When you wake up finding yourself hooked to countless machines and find out that your stomach's been pumped…I don't know, I wasn't arguing too loudly." He shrugged. "I figured it was a wake up call. Especially since it was…you that found me." His eyes softened as they searched hers. "You of all people, finding_ me_ at the hospital the day after that…I didn't want to make it more difficult for myself."

"Difficult how?"

Clearing his throat, Dick scratched his jawline. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but drew his lips inwardly instead. Taking a moment, he looked up and out of the window behind Mac's head, collecting his thoughts. Finally, he just said, "I could have refused your help…but what good would that have done me? It's been nine years of you probably thinking that I'm nothing but a screwed up drunk, and it was confirmed when you found me in that hospital bed. It would have looked like I was just the same unchanged jackass from before." He took a pen out of the pen holder sitting on her desk and began clicking the end back and forth. "If word got out that I refused the advice of the doctor…it would have completely screwed up my plans with my facility." He set the pen firmly back in the holder. "I need to go see that doctor again, to get these," he pointed to the stitches above his eye, "lovely things out."

She appreciated the change of direction. Listening to how vulnerable he sounded was causing some serious softening in her determination to stay away from him. Anymore talk from him about regarding the past and she knew she would be putty in his hands. She hoped that he wasn't able to tell.

"Do you need to make an appointment with him? He told us you could see your regular doctor if you didn't want to see him."

"I think I would rather keep this little escapade contained to just the responding doctor, actually. He told me he's in the ER from noon on every day this week. Dr. Morris said he would take a few minutes out to see me if and when I came in."

"Okay, well it's just now noon." She looked up at the clock. "He should be there then. I have some questions for him anyway." Mac turned back to her computer, emailing herself the link to the county board's information page. She had just found a page that highlighted each member of the board with a photo and bio when Dick had interrupted her. Hoping that one of the members was their suited man, she wanted to go through each picture carefully. She reckoned they could exam the pictures on her phone while they waited for the doctor. That always seemed to take time. Feeling as if she was getting somewhere with Dick's case made her realized she had gotten nowhere with Madison's case, however, and she wondered how Veronica and Keith were faring on their end with Ms. McDougal.

**A/N: I'm hoping all of this is enjoyable! Thanks for the follows, favorites, and reviews. I am working hard at getting more chapters up...I will say, it makes my day when you write me a note of encouragement /review-if you have the time, I would love to hear from you. I hope to get the next chapter up asap. Thanks for reading. Really, thank you.**

**A/N: Some of you may recall (if you have read my other LoVe fic: Musings from Then and Now, Mac telling Logan that same line about "letting a person rule a life they do not own." I firmly believe someone in Mac's situation would sway back and forth fighting this...and therefore, I believe even nine years prior to this story, Mac would still firmly believe this, even if she wasn't able to live by that mantra everyday. So there you go, that's why I included it here.**


	12. Chapter 12 Identity

**A/N: I made a certain promise to a couple of reviewers (wink, wink, you know who you are) that this chapter would be up by sometime today. My work could be so much better if you didn't push me so! Haha, probably not true. Mediocre at best here. At least I like it. I hope you enjoy what you are about to read. Heavy on Dick's mystery, with some of Madison's here. **

**A/N: My computer is frustrating me this morning. My mouse is refusing to move around my screen, and therefore...usually I send little notes to my reviewers that I have posted the next chapter. I give up this morning. Not happening, because I would rather not throw my only source of outside life out my front window. So, with that in mind...this is your note, everyone. I am thinking of you and thankful for all your words of appreciation and encouragement. Maybe tomorrow I can send personal notes...if this is the worst Friday the 13th gives me, I'll take it.**

Chapter 12

As they left the Tennison's home, Veronica looked back at it and thought: that is not a house, that is a mansion. She had become used to people flaunting their money in Neptune, but this house was even more over the top than what she remembered of her years with 09ers. It was twice the size of Logan's family home growing up. Thinking fleetingly of that house made her think longingly of Logan, wishing she could email him more often, as promised. She had sent him a brief email the day before, but nothing since his wonderful package had come, and she wanted his inbox full when he was finally able to access it that next week.

Driving now past the guard gate, Keith waved at the guard posted there and asked Veronica, "So, what do you think?"

They had ended up sharing most of their case with the Tennison's, who were in slight denial that their youngest son was the culprit of the missing money from ThinSlimNow. While they agreed that Mark wasn't the most business-oriented of people and that, yes, Alex Jr. was buying his brother out of The Ten, they still were not convinced that he would commit fraud against a family company. But as the Mars' showcased all they had found, their defensiveness had turned to speechlessness.

Veronica had been pretty adamant that MI be given full access and liberty to find out what Mark would want at The Ten. They had agreed. Keith was going to head to The Ten first thing in the morning to meet with their accountant to go over numbers and make sure everything was as it should be. The Tennison's didn't seem to know a lot about The Ten's financial state, admitting that their oldest son had pretty much completely taken over the gym, while the two of them were more focused with ThinSlimNow. They asked to give them until the morning to get the clearance they needed from Alex Jr. before sending Keith over, and he had agreed.

The other thing that Keith had acquired was a key and directions to their family cabin in Utah. The Tennison's claimed that there was no way that Mark would ever choose to go there because it was much too rustic compared to the ease of living he was used to. Although there was a hired service that came once in May to clean and prepare the cabin for summer use, it required a lot of other manual labor to enjoy it. Both Keith and Veronica thought that was exactly why Mark might choose it: completely obscure and off the radar. They figured they might be going on a family trip to the mountains at some point soon.

Veronica sighed, realizing what her next step needed to be. "I think that I need to talk to the Sinclair's." She pulled up to a stop light. "I need to talk to Mac about going with me to see them, hopefully in the morning. That means Dick will have to either stay with you or go with us…." She flipped her blinker, changing lanes and heading toward the office, "And I'm thinking he'll go with us, since you will be at The Ten." Quickly glancing at Keith to see if he was listening, she continued, "And we need to look into getting tickets up to Salt Lake, I guess. Mac was supposed to look into that email Madison apparently sent to The Ten but I somehow doubt she got to that today. We might have to work into the night."

Keith nodded. "We're closing in on 'em, honey, I can feel it. We just need to find out a few more things, but I'm positive they're at that cabin."

* * *

The hospital emergency room seemed no different than it had on Friday morning. Mac had immediately sat down in the waiting room while Dick went to sweet talk his way into the back but had come to sit beside her when he was told that Dr. Morris was in with another patient. She scrolled through the pictures of the people on the panel, slowly wending her way through each of the bios, feeling like she was missing something, frustrated because there didn't seem to be anything to find within all the names.

"Hey, Dick, do you recognize any of these guys? There are eight men to the four women on the panel; I figure that maybe you might recognize them? Or maybe their names are familiar? Nothing is popping out at me." She handed him her phone and he scrolled slowly through it, pausing to examine each picture he came to.

Shaking his head, Dick handed it back after he had gone through it. "I'm sorry, I don't really. I mean, they look familiar, all of them, but I did my presentation last week in front of all these guys. I didn't know any of them personally."

"Richard Casablancas?" A female nurse came out, motioning him back to an exam room. Together, they stood and followed her. Entering the exam room, Mac stayed quiet and leaned against the wall while the nurse took Dick's vitals. She promised the doctor would be in within five minutes and left.

It was much less than five minutes later when the doctor came in. He had Dick's chart and seemed glad to see him. Examining him, Dr. Morris asked quite a few questions about how Dick was feeling. He set to the job of removing the stitches, and while doing so, opened the questions up for Dick to ask.

Mac stepped away from the wall then, to make her presence more obvious and Dick nodded to her to ask whatever she wanted to know. Taking the initiative, she queried, "You were the admitting doctor, right?" With his nod, she continued, "Can I ask about how Dick's state when the EMTs brought him in?"

Dr. Morris, still concentrating on his task, didn't look at Mac when he answered, "His face was covered in blood from this injury here and, well…he didn't look well. He was in and out of consciousness, rambling when he was awake…he had vomited at some point before the call was made, and he had vomited on the way to the hospital…I would say his state was not good at the time he arrived here early Friday morning."

"So it was apparent that he had been drinking heavily?"

Swiveling on his stool, the Doctor turned to look at Mac. "The signs were there, yes."

Trying a different tack, Mac asked, "What are common signs of alcohol withdrawal?"

Dr. Morris turned back to his patient. "Headache, nausea, irritability…mood swings. Mild anxiety, shakiness…there are multiple signs. Not everyone exhibits the same marks, however. One person could have all of them, another just one or two."

"How long does it last?"

"It varies depending on the person; again, no one is quite the same."

"All right, that's a fair statement. What is your opinion when someone isn't exhibiting _any _signs?"

The doctor set his scissors down, slowly and deliberately, keeping his eye trained on the tool as he arranged it perfectly on the tray. He cleared his throat. "Well, it's possible that the person had already gone through the withdrawal. With some, it can take only a few hours, with others, it can take months, even up to a year."

"Can I ask why you were so adamant that Dick have supervision during these next two weeks?"

Uncomfortable, the doctor pushed his glasses up in thought. "Well, miss, I think that was a judgment call."

"I'm sure it was, sir, but I really am interested at what made you decide that?" Deciding to play her trump, she extracted her business card and handed it to him. "Mr. Casablancas here has hired my agency to look into the incident that occurred Thursday night and asked me to accompany him today to talk with your staff. Any information that you have is imperative that you share it with us. We believe that he was drugged that night and left for dead."

She added the last bit about being dead for shock value, but the doctor didn't seem shocked by the statement. He merely nodded solemnly as if it made total sense as he examined her card. "I'm glad someone is investigating."

She shot a quick glance at Dick at the doctor's words. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, when he was admitted he looked pretty rough." The doctor went back to his work on Dick's stitches with a pair of tweezers. "I'd say he was pretty lucky that someone happened by him."

"Okay, sure." Disappointed with his answer, Mac prodded, "Is that why you thought that he was a danger to himself? That perhaps his physical state was a sign of instability?"

The doctor, who had just finished removing the stitches along Dick's eye, set the tweezers down, looking between the two of them. "First of all, I never said he was a danger to himself. I said he shouldn't be left alone. But the fact is this: the cops who responded were told to go home by the sheriff. They didn't take a statement or follow up on his John Doe status. There was no report filed." Dr. Morris inspected the scar that now ran along the edge of Dick's eyebrow. "That in itself is alarming. Experience tells me that when the police voluntarily won't get involved, there is something more at play than just a drunken injury." Clearing his throat, the doctor stole a look at the closed door and then continued, "I also can tell you, that Mr. Casablancas here has money. He has the look of money with or without his wallet. It's obvious and there was no reason for him to have been sent here to County. He should have been taken directly to St. Mark's, but instead, he ended up here. Now don't get me wrong, we have a good enough staff here to handle any kind of injury or emergency, but I'm not stupid. This is the county hospital. We get the hit and run victims, homeless people…uninsured patients, we're the welfare hospital. We don't usually take in the wealthy, unless there is a national emergency. So you tell me, why would Mr. Casablancas have ended up at this hospital? To be honest, I was and am worried for his safety; yes... I may have intentionally misled you about why he needed the supervision. But that doesn't mean that it wasn't well intended."

"You're telling me that the police department is involved with this?" Mac enquired, shocked.

"Actually, what I'm saying is that they're not involved. They don't want _any _involvement. Period."

Dick stood up from the exam table, pulling his shirt back on over his head, grabbing his sports jacket. "Why didn't you say anything Friday?"

With that question, the doctor had the grace to look remorseful. "I regret that I didn't tell you that day. I was hoping that my gut feeling wasn't right, but if that were true, you wouldn't be asking these questions, so I apologize."

* * *

Leaving the hospital, neither Dick nor Mac said anything. Still processing what the doctor had just told them, it seemed neither had words to say to one another. Mac text Veronica telling her that they would need another late night going over the case as she slid into the driver's seat. Waiting until Dick finished buckling himself into the passenger seat, she started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. Knowing exactly where they needed to go, she checked the time to see that it was just after four o'clock. Grateful that it wasn't yet time for rush hour traffic, Mac headed to the freeway and then downtown, still not saying anything.

Minutes passed by, and as she exited off the freeway, Dick stiffened as their destination became obvious. She felt his gaze on her and she glanced over quickly. "What?"

"Really? We're going to the Grand?"

"You heard Veronica before she left. No time like the present." Flipping her blinker to merge into the other lane, she looked back to check her blind spot before saying, "I emailed myself a picture of our guy. I know the front desk won't be willing to give out information. They won't give out any names, because of confidentiality clauses. But if we can get a name from someone,_ anyone,_ I can go back into the Grand's site and into the registration, to see if this guy was a guest or what. If that doesn't work, we can at least do a preliminary search on the guy, to see what his connections to you might be. I'm not leaving there until we have a name.

* * *

Veronica decided to take a detour stop to see Weevil at his shop. She had only briefly talked to him about Dick's Land Rover and thought it might be a good time to speak to him in person. And she wanted to verify for certain that Madison's car really had yet to come through.

After parking, both Keith and Veronica went inside the shop's waiting area and she dinged the little bell that sat on the counter. A short, jolly-looking Mexican man stepped through the doorway that led to where the work was performed, smiling. "How can we help you?"

"Is Mr. Navarro here? I need to speak with him." Veronica handed him her business card.

"Sure thing, Ms. Mars. It will be just a moment." He disappeared through the doorway and within minutes, Weevil came sauntering in from the shop, a smirk touching his lips, "Well look what the cat dragged in." Noticing Keith, he nodded to him. "Sheriff Mars."

Keith tipped his head in response, eyes crinkling with amusement. "Eli."

"I was hoping to catch you quickly to talk a little more about the Land Rover that was processed? And to give you this," she pulled a picture of Madison's car out of her bag, "I wrote the VIN and license plate number on the back for reference. It would be great if you could pass that along."

Weevil took the proffered picture, glancing at it before stuffing it into his shirt pocket. "No problem, V. Let's step into my office." He led them over to a doorway that led down a short hallway, to the very end, turning left into his office. He motioned for them both to sit down as he went around the desk to sit in his chair. "What can I tell you about the Land Rover that I didn't already say?"

"Well, first of all, where did your cousin find it? What part of town?"

"They found it downtown in an alleyway, off Boulevard and Center. It was down one of those in-between streets where only garbage trucks and delivery vans normally go. One of the owners called it in to Raul—didn't want to bother the illustrious P.D. I guess. It happens a lot."

Veronica nodded in thought. "Did they say how long it had been there?"

"I would have to double check, but long enough for them to know it wasn't going anywhere. I guess the tires had been jacked and the thing was on blocks."

"Was there anything left in the car to identify it other than the VIN? Like, I don't know, personal items, registration cards, or insurance?"

Eli shook his head. "The VIN number had been filed, V. The only reason Raul knew to call me was because I put the alert out. There was nothing in it."

"What did Raul do with it?"

An awkward moment passed. "Well…they stripped what was left and it's gone, V."

Not surprised, but disappointed nonetheless, Veronica sighed. "I didn't expect much less. You'll let me know if the other car goes through?"

* * *

They decided to use the Valet. Fortunately for both of them they were both dressed nicely enough, Dick in slacks and a sports jacket over a collared shirt, Mac wearing a light sweater over a plain black dress, to pull off going to the Grand for pleasure. Mac merely took the sweater off and, viola, ready for dinner. When she requested, Dick searched the back seat for the gray pumps that she had worn Thursday night. Leaning between the seats, Dick found the pumps along with the navy blue dress. Sitting back in his seat, he held out both the dress and the shoes. His voice was thick as he asked, "You sure you don't want to make a stop before hand to change?"

Ignoring his comment, Mac grabbed the dress out of his hands and threw it into the back seat. Reaching a stop light, she quickly traded her flats out for the gray pumps, sliding them and zipping the short zippers while they waited for the light to turn green. The flats joined the navy blue dress in the back. Dick watched, his lids heavy, a lazy smile on his face. "You know, this is golden opportunity for a great Dick-ism, but I think I'll refrain."

"I appreciate your restraint." She checked her hair in the rearview mirror, thoughtlessly adding, "It might actually pay off for once."

"Huh. Famous last words."

"You wish."

Pulling to the front of the building, Dick got out first to come around to open her door before the attendant could reach it. Winking at her, he held his casted hand out for her to take, and she stepped out alongside him, feeling ridiculous. Once out, instead of releasing her, Dick adjust his hand to fit more comfortably in hers and didn't let go.

She was disappointed to see that the valet attendant was not the same as the one from Thursday night as he approached. Dick registered that fact quickly, too, she noticed, as he handed the keys over to the attendant, pulling out cash from his pocket. "Take care of my baby here; are you the only attendant tonight? There better not be any dings or scratches, when is your shift over? Tell whoever comes in next they better be good to her." He held the cash just out of reach from the kid, waiting for his answer.

The Valet, a young kid really, eyed the large bill sticking out of Dick's hand. "Uh…my shift is over at five, sir…"

"Five, huh? Do you promise to tell the next guy to be careful with my baby?" When the kid nodded, Dick grunted in approval and handed him the tip. "I'm glad to hear it," Dick purposely looked at the kid's name tag, "Paul."

Leaving Paul with her keys, Dick and Mac walked hand in hand into the Grand. She nervously snickered. "If that guy honestly thinks that's your baby, I'm a millionaire."

Pulling her closer into him, Dick leaned down into her ear to say in a soft undertone, "That guy knows what a man does to impress a woman, so yeah, he knows who my baby is. I wouldn't worry too much."

Pulling her toward the bar, he released her hand to snake his arm around her waist, drawing her even closer into him. She wasn't anywhere near the height of him, but somehow he seemed comfortable with it. She could smell the familiar scent of sandalwood and lime she had first associated with Dick on Saturday night. It took all her willpower to not burrow herself deeper into his side, instead consciously keeping her mind on the steps they were taking. Not wanting to look stiff to those around her, she allowed her own arm to wind around his waist, feeling his slight surprised intake of breath as her fingers grazed under his sports jacket to loop her thumb through the belt loop of his slacks.

She knew instinctively what game he was playing tonight at the Grand. Mac could and would play it the same way; they just hadn't talked about it yet. She could play a part of the adoring lover. Sure. Why not? Game on.

She let him lead her into the bar, let him choose two of the many empty stools to sit near where the bartender was shaking a drink. He loosened his hold around her to help her into her chair, and she found herself smiling at him, pleased with his care. Sitting down next to her, he pulled a drink menu over to her. "Pick us something good, Honey."

Her smile faded when she took the menu from his hands, thoughts of whether they should have placed Dick in this situation or not suddenly plaguing her. For the past four days, they had thought that Dick was an alcoholic and now they were here, in a bar, about to order a drink. Tracing the edge of the leather bound menu, she met his eyes with caution. He smiled a regretful smile, his understanding dawning. "Order something for you, I mean. I'll have a coke."

She set the menu firmly back in the holder. "It's too early for hard stuff anyway. I'll have a coke, too."

The bartender, a short and stocky forty-something year old man, heard their exchange, but stepped over to confirm the order before pouring it, swiftly placing coasters down and filling their glasses full from a soda hose he pulled from underneath the counter.

Dick waited until the bartender finished before looking at Mac, big-eyed with a huge grin on his face. "I just realized something, Babe. "Hey, what's your name, man?"

The bartender, who was starting to turn away, turned back with slight hesitation. "Diego."

Dick kept his grin large, "Diego. Sure. Anyway, I think you, Diego, can settle a bet between the two of us." Both Diego and Mac watched Dick silently with equal interest. "Babe, can you get your phone out? Show him the picture." Mac did as he asked, flipping through the menus to the photo of their suspect. The picture was remarkably clear: a close up shot of his face, thankfully not showing any evidence that the background was the Neptune Grand. Handing it over, Mac wondered where exactly Dick was going with this. "Great, thanks, Hon." He showed the picture to Diego, flipping the phone on its side to enlarge it. "My wife saw this guy here last week and is just _sure_ that he's that famous actor, you know, the one in the latest _Avengers_ movie? She took this picture and was _dying _to go up to him for his autograph. Have you ever seen him? Did he stay here? Is he shooting a movie or something in Neptune?"

The bartender tilted the phone into the light, examining it closely. "That guy?" He looked up incredulously. "Seriously? Man, your wife must be blind in both eyes." He flushed when he caught Mac's eye, "all due respect, Ma'am, but what part in_ Avengers _do you think he plays?" He snickered. "Maybe one of the dead along the side of the road."

Mac feigned disappointment. "Really? Oh, that's too bad. I was really hoping to get his autograph or…I don't know…find out where they're shooting. I was _so _hoping he'd be here tonight. If he's not famous, I wonder where I've seen him before."

"Do you spend much time here at the Grand? He's a regular." Diego handed the phone back to her, "Ol' Aidan will get a kick out of that, someone thinking his sorry ass face is famous."

There was a taut silence. Mac firmly touched her hand to Dick's thigh, squeezing it. He received her message, loud and clear, relaxing against the back of the barstool, chuckling along with Diego. "Well, that would have been too good to be true, eh, Babe? Really, you don't think he looks like that guy? We just wanted to see something that wasn't there, I guess." He shot a look at the bartender. "You tell Ol' Aidan that there were some star struck fools here at the Grand, seeing his name in lights," he raised his hands, as if framing a headline in the air, "Aidan—sorry, what's his last name?"

"Muldoon."

Nodding, Dick continued, "Aidan Muldoon: Robert Downey's Doppelganger." He lowered his hands, grabbed his coke and took a small sip. Swallowing, he shook his head, looking embarrassed. "Wow, I'm glad we asked. We would have looked mighty stupid, looking for a superstar in the halls, lurking behind the bushes."

"I would have loved to see you in action, man. He would have eaten it up. That guy's always here, picking up women." Diego grabbed a towel and began drying glasses that sat beside him. "You would have had to really watch that guy with your lady here." He motioned towards Mac. "I don't see no ring on that finger, mister, but that probably wouldn't stop the guy anyhow. He would have really played with that one. Goes after any kind of tail. Likes the chase, if you know what I mean."

Lovely, Mac thought. Just her kind of man. Squeezing her fingers deeper into Dick's leg, she pushed the glass away from her. "Honey, I think we need to get going if we want to make it in time, don't you think?"

Dick's hand reached down to cover hers that clung tightly to his leg, squeezing it slightly. "Of course, you're right, Sweets." Sighing heavily, Dick reached into the inner pocket of his jacket, pulling out bills, laying more than enough down on the counter. Standing up, he helped Mac down from her stool, saying to the bartender, "Thanks, Diego, for clearing that up. And I'm not worried about my lady here, no amount of celebrity, real or otherwise, would interest her in that way. True blue all the way, right here."

* * *

Together, they walked out of the bar, Dick with his arm around her shoulders this time. She let him hold on to her as she eyed the lobby area, watching for signs of anything suspicious. Talking about Aidan Muldoon had given her the creeps, just as he himself had given her the creeps on Thursday night. Thinking about him made her skin crawl.

Tucking herself closer into Dick's side, Mac grumbled, "I'm trying to decide how I feel about being called Miss and Ma'am both in the same day, within hours of each other. How much _have _I aged in the past three hours? Seriously?"

Unexpectedly, Dick stopped walking. Glancing back at him in confusion, she saw alarm in his face, and she followed his gaze to where his eyes were trained on a man turned away from them, exiting the elevator, talking to another man as he did so. Mac recognized Aidan Muldoon immediately even without seeing his face.

She reacted before she could think twice about what she was doing. Pulling Dick into her, she stepped backwards until she hit into a wall, drawing her arms up and around his neck, pulling his face down into the crook of her neck so she could see over him to watch the slow progression of their suited man. She wasn't sure what Dick would do if he had an opportunity to approach him, but she knew she couldn't take the chance. Mac knew they needed to get a better idea of what this guy was about before they approached him. Her eyes were trained on Aidan Muldoon as he stood in front of the closed elevator, talking intently to his companion.

She tried to not notice as Dick pinned her tighter against the wall, his arms braced on either side of her, his face nuzzling into her. She pretended that she was pretending that the feel of his lips were making her melt, making her arch up against him. He drew his tongue along the edge of her jawline so that he could whisper softly in her ear, "Is he gone yet?"

Her eyes, which had dreamily slid shut, popped open, rapidly swept the lobby and past, into the hallway to where elevator was. Dick had dropped his mouth lower to the base of her neck, waiting for her answer. Running her fingers through his hair, she pulled at his head so she could look into his face. His eyes were serious but his breathing was choppy, proof of his arousal. Grinning, she pulled him back into her neck, murmuring, "Got to make it count if they're watching. I think they're gone, though."

His hands came down from where they were anchored against the wall to pull Mac into a tight embrace, hands lowering to cup her ass tightly, pushing her up and into his pelvis, making no mistake now of his arousal. He rested his forehead against hers for a moment, and then dropped his hands off of her, stepping away, a slight look of regret evident in his eyes. As covertly as possible, he surveyed the room, visibly relaxing when he determined that Aidan had disappeared from view. Holding his hand out, Mac grabbed it, entwining her fingers tightly into his as they purposely made their way out to the front steps, pausing briefly at the door to make sure that no one was at the entrance besides the Valet.

Dick produced the Valet ticket from within his pocket and handed it to the attendant, a different kid than earlier but still not the same Valet as on Thursday, and they waited for her car to be delivered. Once it arrived, Dick held the passenger door out to her, telling her without words that he wanted to drive. Sliding in, Mac let him close the door after her and she watched him jog around to slide into the driver's side, pulling out of the Grand's entrance as quickly as her little car would allow.

* * *

While Dick drove, Mac scrolled through the panel list again, hoping against hope that something would pop out at her.

"Who the hell is Aidan Muldoon?" Dick mused out loud, "I still don't recognize that name. It means nothing to me."

"I've never heard of him, either." Mac took her time again with the photos, scrolling through each slowly, checking the last names. Discouraged, she scanned it again with a sinking feeling. "There's nothing that jumps out at me. Damn." Setting the phone into the console, she reached down to loosen the zippers on her pumps, sliding them off her feet. Grabbing them both, she tossed them in the back, unclipped her seat belt, leaned the seat back to give her better access to the back. Not finding what she was looking for, Mac twisted in the seat, crawling on her hands and knees, looking desperately for her flats. She could feel Dick's shoulder digging into the curve of her hip, and as much as she tried to not touch him, the car was just too small to keep from bumping into him. Bracing herself up with one arm on the back of the driver's seat, Mac searched through the pile of forgotten clothing and bags, desperate to find her shoes. "Well, hell…where did they go?"

"Whatever you're looking for I hope you don't find it, I'm enjoying the view too much," Dick responded, his voice thick with laughter. More seriously, he added, "Check behind your side, on the actual seat."

Finding them, she crawled back to the front, adjusted the seat and buckled herself back in. She dropped the flats down by her feet and slid them on. Pulling the sun visor down, she checked herself in the mirror, running fingers through her hair, mentally checking in with herself. Flipping the visor back up, she turned to watch as Dick manipulated the car through lanes of traffic, heading to the freeway. He looked ridiculously uncomfortable, the seat as far back as it could go, his long legs bent in unnatural angles to fit.

"May I assume there was a good reason why you didn't let me punch that guy's lights out?" Dick asked, keeping his eyes straight ahead. "When I saw him, that really was what I was thinking of doing, but then suddenly I was getting a Mac Attack…and I kind of forgot my intentions."

Her face warmed at the memory. "Yeah, I kind of figured. That's why I…attacked you, as you describe it. Wouldn't you rather get a better idea of who this guy is before you approach him? He could be dangerous."

Dick snorted. "I could take that guy anytime."

"Really?" Mac tilted her head in objection. "If that were true, we wouldn't be here right now."

He blinked. "Touché. Well, that was a drive-by. That dude doesn't play by rules." Stopping at a light, he glanced at her, "But you are right about figuring out a bit more about him. MI or the apartment?"

"Office."

* * *

All the lights were on when they pulled up to the building. Mac was looking forward to going over what they had found with Veronica. She knew it was going to be a late night. Between Madison's case and Dick's—it wasn't looking like it would be much of a relaxing evening.

When they entered the office, Mac could hear the Mars' in the back office, talking about something in low undertones. She sat down at her desk, set her bag beside her and booted her computer up. Dick sat down directly across from her, waiting for direction as to what he could do.

She wasn't real sure what she should have him do. Truthfully, he didn't really need to even stay around if he didn't want, according to the doctor. He wasn't a danger to himself or to others, so, technically, he was free to do whatever he wanted. Having that option felt strange, though, now that she was getting used to him follow them around for the past four days. She wondered if he was sick of them all yet.

Feeling as if she might be grasping at straws to find something for him to do, she told him, "I wonder if we should look into the emails you got this morning about the foundation. I can hack in and find out who got a blind copy, maybe we can find Aidan Muldoon there. Anything you've gotten concerning the foundation would be terrific. Can you forward them to me?"

Agreeing, Dick left the chair to grab the laptop he had been using earlier and set to work. While he did that, Mac went to check with Veronica and Keith.

They both were hovering over Keith's desk, looking at a map. As Mac came closer, she could see it was a map of Utah. They both looked up at the same time and Veronica smiled. "Ah, Q! So glad you could join us this evening. Sometimes I wonder what we would have done if you would have chosen to stay at Kane Software."

"You would have just taken the Hacking For Dummies class down at the community college and forgotten all about me." Mac pointed over her shoulder towards the door to where Dick sat hunched over the laptop. "We got some serious leads this afternoon. Wanna trade for an hour or so, so that I can hack into Madison's account for Keith here? Fresh eyes might do the case some good."

Keith pulled his keys out of his pocket. "Actually, I need to get going. I left some information at the house that I want to go over, to prepare for my appointment in the morning at The Ten. As much as I want to see what you dig up, I need some time to figure out my approach for the accountant. Call me if anything really interesting pops up, like where those silly little love birds met up."

* * *

Grateful for the break on Dick's case, Mac made quick work of hacking into Madison's email accounts. She went into the work account first, accessing it and promptly finding the email that Samantha had referred to at the class the night before. Opening the response from the Ten, she was able to see the email Madison originally had sent. It read:  
_June 6__th_

_To: HR, Kylie Grange_

_From: Madison Sinclair_

_Hi, Kylie:_

_I know I left it open last week that I might be back by tomorrow, but there is no way I can get back this week. According to what we discussed, I have two weeks of paid personal time, I am definitely going to need at least this whole week off. I'm sorry to put The Ten in a bind, but you did say that I was free to do this if needed. And I need to. Lauren is just not well enough, and I have to be here for her._

_Thank you for your understanding._

_Madison Sinclair_

Intriguing. She was using Lauren's health as an excuse of her absence. Printing the email out, Mac closed the business account and accessed Madison's personal email. It helped that she had already been it before. Taking note of what had come in since she was last in the account, Mac was interested to see that Lauren had emailed once, which was not opened yet. Opening it, she read quickly:

_June 6th_

_To: Madison Sinclair_

_From: Lauren Sinclair_

_Maddie-_

_I wish you would call or visit. It's been too long. Mom was acting all kinds of weird when I asked about you. Are you all right? _

_Dad's been home a lot. He seems distracted, too. It's been fun playing cards with him. He took me to my treatment on Friday. The doctor's seem happy with how good I'm doing. My incision is healing nicely, they said. Dad took me to the awesome ice cream palace place we used to go to all the time growing up, remember the one? I wished you were there, though._

_Love you!_

_Lauren_

She printed it, marked it as unread and kept scrolling down, deciding to check further back prior to May. Instead of clicking only suspicious emails with interesting headings, she opened them each one at a time, to double check.

It was in doing this that she hit pay dirt, in the form of an email from Shelley Pomroy , who had written in response to one that Madison had written her back in the beginning part of April. With increasing fascination, she read what Shelley wrote first and then onto what Madison had originally written to her:

_April 7_

_To: Madison Sinclair_

_From: Shelley Pomroy_

_Mads-_

_Oh, I am so sorry that Lauren isn't well. That's so scary. I hope they figure it out soon. What's going on with your dad and work? That isn't good at all. I have never thought to worry about you and your fam's money situation, but you sure are making me now._

_Rick's a prick. He always has been. Get rid of him. Remember at the reunion? The only good thing he did was get that whole tape. Later I found out that he got that skank Wanda to go down on him in one of the stalls in the women's bathroom that night. I didn't want to tell you, but seriously. Ask Melanie. She walked in on them. He's got connections, I will say that. But that's the only thing you'll miss. What's he got to be obsessed about? _

_Don't worry about the money. We'll figure something out, I'm sure. Your dad hasn't lost his job yet, has he? Please don't sleep with that loser!_

_I'll be in Neptune next week. I'll call. We're doing lunch._

_Luvs!_

_Els_

Mac scrolled to the bottom, to read Madison's email to Shelley:

_April 7 _

_To: Shelley Pomroy_

_From: Madison Sinclair_

_Els-_

_Lauren is sick. I'm so scared! They aren't sure what's wrong with her, but it doesn't look good. She's the only thing that's good in my family right now. If anything happens to her….I don't know what I'll do. This couldn't have come at a worse time; Dad said that they're doing a bunch of layoffs this spring…and you know, he's right at that age where he can't draw on retirement yet and he can't just go get work anywhere else….and whatever is wrong with Lauren is going to cost a ton if he loses their insurance…I don't know what they're going to do._

_No one here even cares. Rick is obsessed with his own stuff, I'm through with him. He's being a total jack ass. I've told a few of my students at work about Lauren and they're all concerned…but I miss you! It would be great to have lunch soon. I've been talking to the owner's son, you know, Mark? I've told you about him. Remember, he asked me out, like, ages ago? Total basket case, remember? The type that goes to game bars to play Dungeons and Dragons. He's actually been really nice, though, listening to me go on and on. He said he wants to help. Whatever that means. Maybe they'll let me put collection cans on the counter at The Ten. Can you imagine? Ha. Maybe if I get in good with upper crust there, they really would let me. Maybe if I sleep with him, he'll give me his millions. I've done worse I suppose._

_Maybe we can meet for lunch soon. Let me know. TTYL_

_Luvs_

_Mads._

Rereading both emails, Mac felt growing trepidation. The implication here was that Madison didn't even like Mark, or at least hadn't liked him to begin with. She supposed that was possible, but still. And it was interesting, reading Madison's concern for Lauren and how her family would pay for the hospital care. The emails to her family had not expressed that. Granted, this was well before the Sinclair's had found out the extent of Lauren's illness and before they told Madison about her switch. She needed to show Veronica, to see what she thought. And who the hell was Rick and what 'tape' was Shelley talking about? Although, thinking back to the reunion, she knew which tape. Veronica was not going to like this.

**A/N: Thank you for all your support, follows, favorites, and reviews/comments. I hope to have the next chapter up by the middle of next week. I hope all my 'clues' for both mysteries are not too muddled. They will be solved, I promise ;) soon. And although it still is 'weeks' away to Logan's return, I plan to have that in here as well, perhaps in an epilogue? We'll see. I have some ideas for that. Have a great weekend, all!**


	13. Chapter 13 Awareness

**A/N: Ok, people. This chapter is filled with info info info. I worked hard on this one, hoping to make it understandable. But there is a lot of the timeline in here, with them going over what "could have" happened on Dick's case. Not a ton of Madison's case, and probably won't be for at least 2 more chapters. I really hope you all enjoy! Rated T for language and ahem, sexy times, for all you patient MaDi, this may make you happy-ish. **

**I also hope you don't mind this is becoming more of a novel in my opinion. I can't stand when things are glossed over and therefore, these chapters are becoming involved. I have never written...anything...quite like this and I am in no hurry to speed the pace up. We may have 10 chapters left here or 20. I really don't know at this point.**

**Thanks in advance for reading. **

Chapter 13 Awareness

Having first told Dick the bad news about his Land Rover, Veronica was now listening as he finished telling her what he and Mac had learned at the doctor's that afternoon when Mac strode in, papers in hand. Sitting heavily down in the seat next to Dick, Mac gave Veronica a hard stare, handing the papers to her across the desk. "Sorry to interrupt, but I need your opinion on this. I don't like what I'm thinking. I'm wondering if you will think the same thing."

Veronica first read over the email Madison had sent to the Ten. "So she's blaming Lauren's sickness as the reason she can't come in?" Mac just nodded, gesturing to the other emails. Veronica continued reading. While they waited, Dick and Mac chattered back and forth about something, lightly laughing. "She implies here she doesn't even like Mark."

Mac broke her conversation with Dick to meet Veronica's gaze. "She basically says she'd prostitute herself for Lauren." Dick made a face. She ignored him to suggest, "I think we should talk to Shelley Pomroy. And find this Rick fellow."

"I'm pretty sure that 'Rick' is Madison's ex, Patrick Muldoon," Veronica told them, opening her middle drawer to grab the Sinclair's folder that she had stored there earlier.

"Wait, what?" Dick leaned over to take the printed email away from where Veronica had set it in front of her to scan the words. "Patrick _who_?"

Veronica flipped through the information in the file. Finding what she was looking for, she turned the paperwork so that they could see what was in bold type. "Patrick Muldoon is who Madison broke up with about two months ago, according to Mrs. Sinclair. When were those emails written?"

"April seventh," Mac informed her quietly, stealing a glance over at Dick.

"Yeah, and that coincides almost exactly. She broke it off with him and her family was aware of it…" Veronica realized that both Mac and Dick sat blankly staring at her. "What…am I missing something?"

Mac turned her head towards Dick. "I guess you haven't told her about the Grand."

Shaking his head, Dick answered, "I was just getting to that, actually."

"What about the Grand?"

Together, Mac and Dick told her a condensed version of their quick drink at the bar of the Grand, and how they had found out the name of their suited man: Aidan Muldoon. Briefly, they described narrowly running into him as they left.

Veronica sat back in her chair, flabbergasted. Raising a hand to rub her temple, she shook her head in disbelief. "Aidan Muldoon. Patrick _Muldoon_. These two cases are…are linked?"

Reading the emails himself, Dick shuffled through the papers. "What in the hell does this even have to _do_ with Madison? I haven't talked to her in years."

Mac asked, "Do you think these two are brothers or something?"

Veronica shook her head in absolute confusion. "I am at a complete loss with this." She turned to her computer to boot up her trusty PI search engine. "Let's just check in and find out." Typing, she filled out a rough search for a Patrick Muldoon, living in or near Neptune California. Within seconds, she was staring at a bio for him, which confirmed the relationship to Aidan. "Bingo. Yeah, they're brothers, all right. Looks like Patrick has been in the real estate business for the past six years." Clicking onto a new page, Veronica typed in 'Patrick Muldoon for sale' in the search tab and pulled up listings under his name. "He's got multiple listings that are over a million dollars each. He's a high roller." She glanced at Dick. "You _sure_ you've never heard of this guy?" When he didn't answer, she clicked back into the PI search engine, searching this time for Aidan Muldoon. What popped up there surprised her a little. "Aidan is a banker out of San Diego for the First Trust Bank. The CFO, according to this."

"A CFO of a major bank drugged me?" Dick sat back, stunned. "What the hell for?"

Reluctantly, Mac took the email from Dick's grasp. "I think I have a slight theory about that," she said slowly. "It makes more sense knowing that Patrick is a real estate mogul." She visibly swallowed. "I don't know if I'm anywhere on target, and I for sure don't know why it's involving Dick. But…when you read Shelley's response, Veronica, did you notice that she referred to the reunion and that 'Rick was only good for getting the _whole _tape.' The only tape I could think of from that night that would have mattered was-" she darted a glance at her friend, "Well, take a guess."

Alert, Veronica sat up, suddenly very intent, a sick feeling forming in the pit of her stomach. "Holy hell."

Nodding, Mac sat the email back down on the desk between them. "That makes the most sense to me. And who would have access to the_ whole_ tape? I don't mean to bring it up, but…what they showed at the reunion was ten times more than what was leaked back then. Shelley says here 'he has connections. That's the only thing you'll miss.'" She pointed it out. "What kind of connections do you think she means?"

Dick had been still, watching and listening to them both, digesting the information. Veronica could see the wheels turning in his head, linking everything they were saying together. He, too, suddenly sat up, leaning in to where the email now sat. "You're shitting me."

All three of them breathed the word at the same time:

"The Castle."

* * *

Mac's bad feeling had just imploded into full on sickening alarm. "If the Castle is involved with all of this, Dick…." She shook her head in complete bewilderment. "_Why _would the Castle be involved in this? What have you done to piss them off?" Suddenly suspicious, she scowled. "How do _you_ even know about the Castle?"

"Are you kidding? The ruination of any happiness for my best friend was something I was completely aware of back at Hearst. I remember totally when all that shit went down. And who was involved." Dick stared intently at Veronica. "That tape was what Logan blamed for everything going to hell in hand basket."

"Yeah, I can see why he felt that way, but I never told him about the Castle." Veronica squirmed under Dick's gaze. "And quit looking at me like that. I wasn't the one that _taped_ it!"

"Yeah, well, true, but you're the one that made Logan a living nightmare to live with the next three years."

Mac watched her friend forcibly clasp her hands together, her eyes shooting darts at Dick. Taking a breath, Veronica shook her head, obviously calming herself. "Tell me how you came to know about the Castle and why they would want to ruin you."

Dick dragged his hand through his hair. Rubbing an eye, he sighed deeply. "The way I came to find out about the Castle was right after…the tape came out. Remember when you came and went through my email, looking for the source? How it came from Chip. Chip Diller?"

"Ah, yes, Chip. How could I forget my old friend?" Veronica asked disdainfully. She crinkled her nose in disgust. "Go on."

"Yeah, well, we were talking about it and it came up. He knew that the Castle was behind the tape, because one of his friends talked. Whatever, somehow he knew they did it." Dick flipped his hair back. "Well, that next year…they tapped me."

"Oh, _please," _Veronica tittered in skepticism. "Why would any society tap _you_?"

"Hey!" Dick straightened up, indignant. "I came from a wealthy family. And back then, Dad was more of a legend around here. They liked that my mom's new husband knew the governor and that never hurt." He shrugged. "Hell, I was surprised, too, but whatever. I aced through my business classes, once I started showing up. That first year was pretty shitty, but once Dad went to the slammer, I got a little more serious. They look at all that when they're considering people."

Mac, listening to their exchange, nodded in agreement. She remembered, actually, that both Logan and Dick had started passing all their classes that year. Not that she had stalked them or anything. "Uh, so, they tapped you? What happened then?"

"After about no thought, I turned them down." He chewed at his thumb nail. "Part of their speech when they approach you goes into all this garbage about protecting their members, helping the elite throughout life. It turned my stomach, honestly, thinking about how it was basically a 'I scratch your back you scratch mine' type of club. And I _knew _Logan would kill me, being part of the group that…well, you know. And I can't keep secrets from him for shit."

"So you turned them down, cold?" Veronica asked, ever the skeptic.

Dick said nothing for a few minutes. Chewing on his lip, he stared up and above Veronica's head in thought. Exhaling a deep breath, he answered, "Well, when they first tapped me, I idiotically said yes not really thinking about what it all meant. I mean, it was shocking, to say the least, that they wanted me in their group."

"So did you make it to Hell Night?"

Dick dropped his gaze to look at Veronica sharply. "You know all their secrets, too, huh?"

"I know my share of their ways. Not all of their secrets, no, but enough."

"Well. Hell Night? No, I refused the invitation once it came. And that didn't set well with them; there was a slight threat that I would face troubles in my future career. I told them I would have to take that chance and walked away."

"So, were they true to their word? Has it been difficult at all for you these past ten years?"

Dick set the email back on the edge of Veronica's desk, obviously thinking back. "The year I opened the Water Dog, I ran into a few zoning issues. But it went smoothly enough. I never associated that with The Castle, if that's what you mean."

"How long have you been trying to get your foundation off the ground?" Mac asked.

"Oh, I've been toying with the idea for a while. But finding the right piece of property has been a bit of a problem. This one I just finally landed is a little gem of a piece that I'm lucky to have found. It was a great price, for where it's at."

Mac touched his arm lightly, making Dick look straight at her. She blinked. "Did you put offers in for any other properties before this one?"

He scratched his neck. "Two…actually. One about two months ago and the other, oh, I think it was in February."

"How long has the County Board known about this all?"

"Probably since the end of last year sometime. My lawyer approached them about zoning issues and permits, licenses, all that kind of stuff. He submitted the requests under my name."

Veronica rolled her neck, as if to stretch it. "Okay. So what exactly do we think we know here?" She opened her eyes, giving both Dick and Mac a hard stare. "If what we are assuming, and we are assuming at this point, is true, then what? Madison was dating a member of the Castle earlier this year, one Patrick Muldoon, real estate broker. She brings him to Neptune's reunion in January. She finagled him into getting the sex tape that the Castle had of me…because, well, we know why, because she's a bitch…." Veronica's voice trailed off.

Mac continued on with the thought, "The tape gets played and what happens? Logan starts a fight, trying to get to the player in time to shut the thing off. Everyone jumps in; major fight ensues between the 09ers, Logan, Wallace, Weevil, Piz, and Dick," she flicked her eyes toward Dick, "And the major players in that fight on the 09er side, if I remember correctly, were the guys that Shelley and Madison came in with. I had never seen them before, had you?"

Neither Dick nor Veronica said anything.

"Okay, so then in February, you lose a property that you were looking into for the foundation." Mac paused. "What were the reasons the board gave you for losing those properties?"

Seemingly tense, Dick began fidgeting with his hands. "Well, the first loss, they said I hadn't applied for all the permits, which, according to my lawyer, I had. I had it all in place, but that was their reason for refusal."

"Sure," Mac nodded, "someone could have easily 'misplaced' those, making that an easy excuse to refuse you. All right, then in April was your second attempt at a piece of property? Why did you lose out on that one?"

Dick shook his head, smiling in a defeated kind of way. "I can't believe this. Yeah, I lost that one due to a zoning issue that had been cleared originally but apparently they decided to void the clearance. It didn't make sense at the time, but my lawyer just told me to move on, so I didn't fight that one."

Mac sat, thinking over everything. She scratched the side of her neck. "So…what was different about this property that you just got? Why did the panel approve it?"

Staring down in his lap, Dick flexed his fingers. "I honestly don't know. My lawyer followed everything down the rabbit hole that much I do know. But I never got as far as the panel the last two times. The properties were refused way before that step." Keeping his head down, he peeked up through his blond mane of hair that had fallen down into his eyes. "That's why it was so serious that I keep my name out of the papers and do what Dr. Morris told me to do. I was finally to the last step and it almost got screwed up."

Standing up, Veronica began to pace. "So, let's say, that it slipped through the Castle's fingers. It got to the Panel before they could come up with a reason for it to not go through. Their only option is to ruin your reputation, and that would make the Panel turn against you." Stopping, she reached down to grab Madison's email to Shelley. "According to this, 'Rick' was 'obsessed with his stuff.' That was April seventh. When did you get refused for the second property?"

"Can I see a calendar? I don't remember the exact date." When she handed him the calendar that hung on the wall behind her desk, Dick flipped it back to April and scanned it, heavy in thought. "It would have been…oh, it was the week taxes were due. So yeah, just over a week after the seventh."

They were silent then, each thinking their own thoughts. Mac was stunned and a little scared for Dick. The little she knew about the Castle, she knew they had people everywhere that mattered. If they wanted to ruin him, they could do so quickly and effectively. It would be easy, and there wouldn't be anything he could do about it.

Veronica, musing as well, started to speak. "But we _know_ that Madison broke it off with Patrick Muldoon before that second time. She didn't like his obsession. I wonder if she knew what he was up to?" She flipped through the file again. "When's the last time you spoke with Madison, Dick?"

"Well, briefly at the reunion. But before that, uh…years. We haven't dated since college."

"Did you part on good terms?"

"Well, seeing that she conned my best friend into sleeping with her on a winter trip, I kind of had it out with her."

Veronica froze. "Oh?" she asked, lightly. "Conned is a strong word, Dick. Did you have proof?" Shaking her head, she cleared her throat. "Never mind. That completely is off point. The point is that it was your idea to break it off. Would she have a reason to want to ruin you?"

"Well," Dick said, "she wanted to stay together. I mean, it was me, the Dickster. It wasn't her idea. She apologized up and down, but it was just too weird to have her around."

Mac spoke up then. "Okay, so let's fast forward to last week. You get the news that you're in with the Panel, you show up, do your thing, and what? How were the people on the Panel with you? Positive, negative, indifferent?"

"They actually seemed very receptive. There isn't a facility here like the one I proposed, kids have to be shipped off to San Diego or be ignored…which is usually the case. The only way they're not ignored is when they get brought in to hospitals or a social worker steps in."

"So bear with me while I go over a timeline." Mac interrupted. "I've been thinking about this since talking with Dr. Morris. You went to the Panel meeting, it goes well. You leave, and someone on the Panel or whoever else involved knows your facility is going to pass. They don't want it to, for whatever reason. A phone call is made to Aidan…or…I don't know that part is muddy to me." Mac kept talking, trying to make sense of it all, "Somehow he's at the Grand the same time as you. But that bartender did say that he's there a lot. But being there a lot versus being there, waiting to drug you? I don't know. Anyway, he delivers the water to you. Has someone follow you to the beach….maybe someone was lying in wait to follow you—gets to the beach and waits for you to pass out?"

Veronica, listening to all this, nodded her head in agreement. "That seems right. But then what, the guy just waits for hours until Dick is alone to attack?"

"And what is the deal with the cops not taking a police report?" Dick asked, "Do you think the Castle paid them off to ignore it?"

Veronica, who had turned to stare out the window and into the night, turned back to look at them both. "That part confuses me the most. If the Castle wanted your name ruined, the first thing they would have required was a police report. Your name would have gone straight to the wires, and into the papers and media sources. As of right now, no one really even knows about what has happened to you. Why?"

* * *

They broke for the night then, each exhausted in their own right. Before they left, however, Veronica asked to speak to Mac alone for a few minutes.

"I'm calling Mrs. Sinclair in the morning and I plan to go there to speak to her and her husband about the case as soon as they are available. I want you to come with me, Mac. It's time."

There wasn't anything that she could say, so Mac just nodded. With everything going with Dick and his case, she had kind of set aside all thought of the Sinclair's. She couldn't crumble though, not for at least another hour, until she got home and could lock herself away in her room. In a fog, she grabbed her bag and sweater, heading for the door where Dick stood, waiting for her. She raised her eyes to meet his, holding them there, seeking comfort that he didn't even know he could or should give. She smiled when he motioned to take her keys from her fingers, and she relinquished them gratefully. Mac wondered if he thought it was strange that she seemed to be in more shock than he was, but if he did, he didn't comment.

They made their way to her car, Dick opening the passenger door for her, letting her climb slowly in. She watched as he walked around the front of the car to fold himself into the driver's seat, pushing the key into the ignition and turning it, peeling away from the curb quickly. Her eyes wandered down to where his hand rested on the shifter, his cast seeming to not hinder his driving. She took in the fact that he had shed his jacket and rolled his sleeve on that side up to his elbow, to give clearance to the cast, she was sure. The air between them felt thick, and she felt the familiar thudding in her chest that she now had anytime she was in close proximity of him.

Turning onto the freeway, Dick finally spoke. "You don't have to channel your driving skills to my limbs, Mackie. I've got it covered." His voice was tense. "What's going on in that head of yours?" He quickly glanced over to her, "Penny for your thoughts?"

As he had turned to look at her, she swiftly looked out the front window. _A penny for my thoughts, huh? Not exactly the purest of thoughts, that's for sure. _"It's this Castle thing. I'm just a little freaked out about it, that's all."

Dick clucked his tongue. "You know, when you say it like that, I almost believe you." She felt a knot form in her stomach when Dick suddenly reached over to place his hand on her leg, lightly running his thumb in a circle on the outer edge of her knee. "You're as tense as a board. Seriously, what's up?"

Mac's eyes dropped to watch his thumb, circling and circling, her breath coming in erratic spurts. She felt light headed. Instead of answering him, she rolled her window down. Realizing right away that the window down while on the freeway while Dick was driving eighty-miles per hour perhaps wasn't the best choice, she rolled it straight back up. She instead reached to turn the air conditioner and fan on high.

She couldn't think of anything to say. Mac felt at odds with herself, after everything that had come to light that day. First of all, finding out that Dick was so much more than just a burned out surfer. Second of all, that the doctor had knowingly lied about Dick being an alcoholic and that Dick went _along _with it, and then finding out about the possible Castle link to his case. And lastly, that tomorrow was the day. The day it all would change for her.

Moving her knee away from his touch, she adjusted herself in her seat to stare hard at him. He eyed her, paying attention mostly to the road, but looked long enough to laugh uneasily. "Now you're not the only one freaked out."

"What do you think would have happened back in high school if I would have been an 09er?"

He took more time to look at her with that question. "What do you mean?"

Taking a breath, she dove for it. "I mean, if I would have been an 09er, would you have cared that Cassidy dated me? You gave us such shit back then. I just want to know if it was because of me being more of an…02er."

Dick barked out a laugh. "You really think that's why?"

"Well, what the hell else could it have been?" She pointed at him. "You were horrible to us. To him, about me. Worse than all the other 09ers combined."

His knuckles tightened on the steering wheel. "Maybe I was jealous."

"Jealous of what? Cassidy?"

"Jealous…or envious, sure. That Cassidy took what he wanted and didn't give a damn about what everyone else thought. I know you won't believe it, Mac," Dick told her, "But Cassidy did something with you that I never was able to do. I dated people like Madison Sinclair, for fuck's sake. As if I wanted her…or whatever. I mean, yeah, we were young, any rich thing that put out was fair game…sure. But, really? Cassidy had a real relationship with you." He shrugged. "I was jealous," he said simply.

"Well, sheesh, Dick…you and Logan owned the school. Anyone would have said yes if you would have asked them."

"Would you have?" He looked at her severely, whipping his head rapidly back and forth to the road and her face. "Said yes?"

"Me?" Mac felt the word escape her.

"Yes. You."

She felt desperately vulnerable seeing the fierce way he glared out the window, as if he knew what her answer would be. She felt a nervous chuckle bubble out of her mouth. "Come on, Dick. Don't be stupid. You never even knew my name until Cassidy brought me home."

"That's bull shit and you know it." Traffic suddenly stopped and he slammed on the brakes. "I knew who you were _years_ before Cassidy came into play."

Her eyes dipped into a hard squint. Disbelievingly, she stared at him, replying cynically, "Really."

"Yes, _really._" Easing off the brake, the car started going once again with the flow of traffic. "You don't have to believe me. I remember a lot about it, I can prove it to you if you'd like." She was silent. He sighed. "Fine. The one thing I remember is that funky truck you used to drive. I remember when you bought your Bug...and how you financed it." He turned to grin at her. "I'll have you know that I owned a good portion of that car."

She let herself laugh with that. "You and every other 09er."

His grin faded, and he continued, "That's my point, though. The 09er's ruled me and what I really wanted. My dad ruled me. Cassidy wasn't like that. He never cared about the boundaries that were set in school…he pursued the one thing that I was too proud to try for."

Pushing what he was suggesting away, Mac asked, "Is that why you were with Madison for so long? To keep up with appearances?"

Reaching their exit, Dick signaled and merged off the freeway, taking his time before answering. "Madison was supposed to be a trophy wife, I guess. Did you know her mom was a beauty queen in her younger years? Dad never let me forget it. But then, the joke was on him, cause turns Madison out was adopted."

"A beauty queen? Seriously?" Mac bit her lip, hard. "Your dad wanted you to go after Madison because of that?"

"Well, that was only part of it. Dad had this saying, about a good wife being seen and not heard. Did you ever meet Kendal?" When she nodded, he did, too. "Exhibit A of Dick Senior's charm. His fatherly advice was to get 'em young, train 'em young. Get rid of them at thirty." Pulling into the apartment complex, Dick maneuvered the car into a spot and put it into park. "To him, Madison was this perfect combination—she had the genes, or so he thought." He pulled the keys out of the ignition and handed them to her. "She was young enough to be brainwashed—start on them early—and she came from a good enough family, lower-end 09ers." His hand reached for the handle of the door. "She was eye candy, sure. And she eventually put out a lot. That was enough for me back then, I guess, to keep me from complaining."

He exited the car, leaving her staring after him, dumbfounded. What he had essentially told her gave her a slightly sick feeling. She could have been the object of his desire back them, just because of her name. Madison wasn't his girlfriend because he loved her or even, from what he implied, that he liked her. She was a convenient Barbie doll that he had been told he could control. Not for the first time, she wondered what she would have been like as Madison Sinclair. Would she have been the shallow, bitchy girl they all knew to be Madison? Would she have ended up more like Meg Manning, all sweetness and butterflies? Would she ever have befriended Veronica, or found an interest in computers? Dick had no idea what he had just done to her, telling her all that. It made her indescribably sad, to think of how their relationship could have been. Meaningless.

Not that they had a relationship now, she reminded herself. This was a temporary thing that would be over as soon as they solved his case, which would hopefully not be dragged out too much longer for his sake. Reminding herself of that helped, more than reminding herself of the hot embrace they had shared earlier at the Grand. Damn. She just reminded herself of it.

He had come around and was opening her door, making her smile to herself, thinking of what a contradiction he was. The Dick that she had always thought of prior to last week was not one that opened doors or carried people to their beds, or cared enough to start a facility for abused children. The person she had always associated with Dick was a self-absorbed ass that had no thought of anyone but himself. Climbing out of the car, she followed him as he led her up to the front steps of her apartment. He waited as she unlocked the front door and let her step in before he entered after her.

As he shut the door behind them, Mac stepped to the table and set her bag down. She watched Dick make himself at home, slamming the door and then removing his shoes to slide them under a bench next to the front door. He wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to her as he stepped into the kitchen to grab a banana on his way to the fridge to pull out the pitcher of water they stored there, grabbing a cup from the cupboard to pour himself some water.

Still facing the cupboard, he asked over his shoulder, "Can I get you some water?" but when she didn't answer, he turned to find her staring at him. "Mac?" He was completely unaware of all the emotions that had been coursing through her, but as he met her eyes, his movements slowed as he set his water cup back on the counter, turning back to really look at her. "You all right?"

She didn't know when it had happened. When over the course of the past few days, she had started to fall. But at some point, she definitely had, and there wasn't anything she could have done to stop it. She _never _permitted herself to fall. She hadn't let herself fall in years, but this man had barged into her life and made her fall in a matter of days.

Mac was tired. So tired of the worry and the stress that had been threatening to boil over since Thursday, since her birth mother had walked into MI looking for help. She just wanted to not think anymore, to not be responsible for a few hours; to just let go. Dick would willingly give it; she knew he would. And he didn't have to know that it would mean more to her than just the casual encounter that it would be for him. That in a way, it could possibly be the most important encounter that Mac had ever had in her life.

Dick was becoming concerned now, with her silence hanging between them. He stepped forward towards her, hands awkward as he decided what exactly he should do. "Hey. What's wrong?"

Blinking, she bit her lip lightly, allowing a small smile. "Sorry." Shaking her head, she rolled her eyes. "Just in my own head for a moment." Swallowing, she stepped away from him, into the living room, "I just need…I'll be…I'll be right back." She headed for her bedroom door, feeling like an imbecile for even entertaining the notion of sleeping with him.

She could hear the padding of his footsteps, following after her. As she opened her door, she let herself look back to where he stood, watching her not five feet away. The look in his eye was cautious, mixed with longing and it made her heart jump to her throat, beating wildly. Not allowing another thought to hinder her own longing, she stepped into her room, leaving the door open, a silent invitation for him to _please_ follow.

* * *

She reached the door to her bathroom before she let herself turn around to face him. Dick still stood at the threshold, as if unsure of the message she was sending him. Mac was surprised that he wasn't running into the room full blast, with all the hints and suggestive remarks he had been giving her for the past few days. He looked…nervous. Or shocked. Maybe a little of both.

Minutes passed while they stood staring across at each other soundlessly. The only noise that Mac was aware of was the ticking of the clock that hung above her dresser and the slight whirring of the air conditioner. Concluding that he needed a little prodding, she smiled at him. That got his feet moving, into the room finally, shutting the door behind him, but he still just stood there, feet away from her.

He spoke then, his voice thick, "Please tell me that I'm reading this right."

Mac laughed. Swallowing her nerves, she nodded. "You're reading this right." Breathing in, she exhaled slowly, gathering her courage. "Help me out of my dress?"

His eyes turned from hazy to crystal blue in a second flat, a smirk forming at his lips as crossed to her in a beat. "You said it." He pulled her into him, deftly finding the zipper under her arm and tugging it down. Mac felt the tips of his fingers lightly graze her skin, causing her to shiver. Dick tilted his head down to catch her mouth, which had tipped up towards him when he had grabbed her. His tongue traced the edge of her lips, seeking permission to enter her mouth, which she gave into easily. They played a game of give and take, Mac tentatively entering his mouth with her tongue, mirroring his actions. Pulling away, Dick laughed thickly. "Wow," He said, resting his forehead on hers. "Really?"

Mac didn't want to talk. She didn't want to think or make it mean too much. She didn't want him to be nice or make it special…because then it would hurt too much later, when he was gone. It would hurt too much to think about this time…but if they were silent, she could just remember the physical release and not think about the look he was giving her right now, all softness and tenderness, things that she never before had thought she would ever see in his face. Especially not when he was looking at her.

She answered him by attacking the buttons of his shirt, almost tearing the fabric off him. He laughed even more now, taking hold of her small hands in his. "Slow down, Mac. I never took you as the rough type."

Letting him take over his own shirt, Mac pulled at her dress, flinging it off of her, it hitting with a soft thud against the back of her bed. His eyes caught the movement, and his gaze raked over her body, eyes dilating with lust. Suddenly, she felt self-conscious, wishing belatedly that the light were off. Not that she was embarrassed, per se, of her body, but it had been a little while since she had been done this with anyone, and usually there was a little planning involved before the 'big event.' This morning when she had dressed for work, she had not been thinking that this was how she would be ending her night.

He wasn't acting disappointed though, instead flinging his own shirt where her dress had landed and grabbing her arm to pull him to him once again. He was still in an undershirt and his slacks, but he pressed her into him, his arm running down the length of her, his fingers stopping at the band of her panties.

Her own hands were feverishly running down his chest, to the band of his slacks, pulling at the undershirt to loosen and pull it up and over his head. Her breathing became labored as Dick pulled his hands away from her to lift his shirt over his head and off, exposing his very fine and chiseled chest. Unable to contain herself, Mac let her fingers trail down it to the waistband once again. She was surprised when Dick's hands covered hers to still them. She looked up into his face and saw the question there.

Never in her wildest dreams would she have pegged Dick as an unsure lover, one hesitant to make a wrong move or need permission from his partner. But she recognized that very specific look of uncertainty and it melted her heart, even more, to see it there. Pulling a hand from his grasp, she touched his cheek to bring her mouth to his. Lightly kissing him, she hoped it conveyed the message that yes, this was exactly what she needed. What she wanted. She pulled back to give him a slow, sexy grin, pulling him toward her bed.

He followed, letting her lay down and he straddled her. Mac pulled at his belt, loosening it, pulling it out of the loops to drop it at the side of the bed. He sat back on his haunches, legs still astride her, looking her over in wonder. His hands fell to her flat stomach, fingertips touching the edge of her black bra. Dropping his head down, he kissed her there, hands now running up to cup her shoulders as he nuzzled his way up to her neck, breathing her in deeply. She could feel the leanness of his body along the span of her, all hard muscles and edges. Her hands ran through his hair; tugging at the ends, enough for him to angle his head up to look her in the eye, grinning. His eyes were heavy and she could see his pulse beating madly in his throat, exciting her, making her own pulse even more erratic. She felt herself buck against him in want, and his grin widened. "All in good time, baby."

Lowering his head, he nipped his teeth against her neck, trailing a kiss down to the base of her throat, nipping her there lightly while his hands made their way to the back clasp of her bra. Mac began to feel restless, as his mouth trailed back and then nipped at her ear, his tongue teasing the sensitive skin there. She sighed in pleasure as he worked the straps of her bra down her arms—

There was a loud knock at her door and they sprang apart, both breathing heavily. "Mac?" Veronica called, voice concerned.

Dick and Mac stared at each other, eyes wide. Dick looked like he was going to burst out laughing as Mac tried unsuccessfully to re-clasp her bra in her haste, trying guiltily to find clothing, _anything_, to cover herself enough to be able to open the door. Pointing to the bathroom, he whispered, "I can tell her that you're in the shower and that you didn't know I was in here. My stuff's still in here…" He stepped to his duffle bag, "See? I can tell her I wanted to change."

Knowing that Veronica wouldn't be likely to buy that story, but desperate, Mac hurriedly stepped in the bathroom, locking the door and turned the shower on immediately. Slipping her few remaining bits of clothing off of her, Mac stepped over the tub's lip, letting the freezing water hit her full force before it could warm to even lukewarm. Needing to cool down, she kept herself from crying out in shock as the icy blast sprayed her, the water like shards of glass hitting her flushed skin, helping but not abating the slow burn that Dick had just stoked into a steady fire. She stayed there for a long time, wishing he were with her.

Stepping out fifteen minutes later, she was chagrined to realize that she had brought no clothes in with her. Hoping against hope that Dick had joined Veronica in the living room, she peeped her head out the door, looking for signs of life. When she found none, breathing a sigh of relief, she opened the door wider, dried off and found herself the most dowdy-looking pair of sweat pants and over-sized shirt that she owned, pulled them on and then headed out the door to face the judgment of her best friend and her near one-time lover.

* * *

**A/N: All right, so hopefully it all made sense and that you are still wanting more of this story. I have a lot more where this came from! Thank you ALL for the follows/favorites and especially, your reviews. They help me stay excited, and I think that knowing I have all of you reading this along with me writing it is what keeps me a tad bit...shall I say...obsessed with this thing. Please leave your thoughts for me if you have the time. Thank you for taking time to read this, and taking time out to review it. Thank you thank you.**


	14. Chapter 14 Momentary Comfort

**A/N: Rated M for a few F-bombs and various language. Not a ton. But rated that way for Sexy Times as well. I believe those of you unsatisfied with last chapter should be happier with this. I would hope anyhow. **

**A/N: There is a small LoVe scene for those of you who are wondering where they went! I promise, both couples are important to me in this story. Also, this may not be the best. But I have been going over and over this chapter and this is it. I have to move on. So I do hope that the dialogue here is good enough.  
**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 14

When Veronica walked into the apartment to see the water pitcher out of the fridge, a half-eaten banana sitting on the counter, and Dick's shoes under the bench, she had a bad premonition as to where both Dick and Mac were, and it wasn't down at the pool. Recalling all the long looks she had caught between the two of them, she knew instinctively that they were both in Mac's room.

Immediately she had knocked on Mac's door, calling out her name in concern. There was an awkward shuffling behind the door, and within a few minutes Dick opened the door, dressed, thank God, with a t-shirt and shorts in hand. He glared at her, his face flushed. "What, Ronnie? Mac's in the shower, I came in here to change. I don't think she can hear you."

Suspiciously, Veronica tried to see past him, but Dick's tall frame filled the doorway. He stalked past her, tightly shutting the door before she could see inside. Although the shower was obviously running, she knew that something was off. Turning, she watched as Dick stomped to the hallway bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Five minutes later, he came out, changed, slacks and shirt in hand. He dropped them next to the coffee table and sat down on the couch.

Veronica observed his choppy movements, recognizing the actions of a sexually frustrated man. She came to sit adjacent of him in the lounge chair. Not saying anything, she waited. He resolutely ignored her, grabbing the remote control, turning the television on and immediately flipping through the channels.

"Anything good on?"

His eyes flicked to her. "Is there something you wanted to watch?"

"No. But I have a question."

Dick stared at her for a beat. "You really just live, eat, and breathe your cases, don't you? When do you ever just _relax_?"

Tilting her head, she clucked her tongue. "Dick. I'm a Mars. This _is _relaxing." When he glowered at her, she said, "Look, it has nothing to do with the case. Turn the TV off."

Pressing the power button on the remote extra firmly, Dick set it down on the coffee table and glared at her sullenly. "All ears, here."

"I want to know about you and Mac."

He blinked. "What's there to tell?"

"Come on, Dick. I'm not stupid. As much as you wish I were, you know me too well. Quit Dick-ing off with my friend. "

"I don't kiss and tell, dearest. I have nothing to say." He set his eyes straight on her. "If you want in-fo," he said the 'fo' with a rounded POP, "talk to Mackie."

Throwing her hands into the air, Veronica sighed. "Fine. Fine. But I will tell you this, Ri-_chard," _she said the second syllable with a similar POP to it, "You need to watch yourself with her. I'm a bear-cat when it comes to my friends. And she's spent the last decade getting over a Casablancas. I am in no mood for another ten years of a tortured-soul Cindy Mackenzie. Lay off. The last thing she needs is a player."

Dick sat up, scowling deeply. "How is this _any_ of your business? Mac is a grown woman. If we decided to screw on the top of her car during rush hour traffic, it couldn't be less of your business. Why is it your personal mission to keep her away from _me?_"

"Because you're Dick Casablancas. It goes without saying why."

"Really." Dick scoffed. "Enlighten me anyway."

"You really want to dig into the logistics of why?" Veronica asked scathingly. "Are you a complete moron to not _know _why for _years _I could barely stand the sight of you?"

Dick visibly paled, his eyes flicking toward Mac's door. "That has absolutely nothing to do with anything."

"Oh, really, Dick? The fact that you roofied me and then brought me into a room and left me _alone_ with your _brother_ has absolutely nothing to do with _anything?" _She shook her head in disgust. "You really are a moron. You think that I would ever encourage you, of all people, to be with Mac, when I know for a fact what kind of person you are?"

"You know _nothing_, Veronica," Dick argued, twisting in his seat. "When that happened, there was a lot at play there that you knew nothing about. And I have _tortured_ myself for years over that. You think I don't regret that night and everything that led up to what happened with Cassidy?" He looked at her beseechingly, "I'm sorry it happened. I had no idea that it had…until…until you did." His voice cracked. "I swear, I thought there was no _way_ Beav would do it." He mumbled something under his breath.

She leaned forward to hear him, "What did you say?"

Something flashed in his eyes before he broke eye contact. "I said, I thought he was gay."

There was a sharp gasp, and both Veronica and Dick looked up to where Mac stood, having just come out of her room. "Gay?"

* * *

Cracking her door open enough to hear the conversation in the living room, Mac listened with increasing apprehension. She knew a good portion of why Veronica disliked Dick, but to hear them speaking about it made her ill. It wasn't something she let herself dwell on much, just because it was so hurtful and unimaginable, what Cassidy had done to her friend. All before Mac had even known him. And then he had spent two entire years acting as if it hadn't even happened…and Dick had been a part of it.

When the word 'gay' had come out of Dick's mouth, Mac couldn't stand it any longer, she came out of her room in shock, stepping out so lightly neither Dick nor Veronica had heard her until her voice had betrayed her presence. "Gay?"

Running his hands through his hair, Dick rested his elbows on his knees, his hands stopping on top of his head, not looking at either girl. "I've never said anything, but surely you wondered, too?"

Mac had wondered. In fact, she was all but positive it was true. She remembered the times Cassidy and she would try to be _together_ that he would get nervous and it would just be over. Watching Dick sitting on the couch, miserable, Mac whispered, "Yes."

"That's still no excuse for what you did," Veronica pushed.

Dropping his hands, Dick tapped his fingers on the coffee table in front of him. He looked straight at Veronica. "I was seventeen, Ronnie, and stupid. Ever heard of that?" He ground out, "Certainly there's something you've done in your life that you regret. That, if given the chance, you would go back and undo." Blowing out a breath, Dick sat up straighter. "I have lots of those. But one of the big ones is that night. How was I supposed to know that Madison would hand that drink straight over to you? That in itself is inexcusable, and I'm ashamed I put myself in the ranking with the world of people like Mercer Hayes. Seventeen-year-old boys don't always think with the brain in their heads. It's not something I would ever do again, not something I _did_ normally. But when you're young and horny, you don't always get that there's another day and another girl to be had, and you don't know you can afford to be patient." He flicked his gaze to Mac, who was listening and watching him intently, but he dragged his eyes back to Veronica. "And as for what happened that night with Beav, that was just plain wrong, and I know it. I knew it then. But Sean and I both thought that Beav would be out of that room in five seconds flat, and we could just have a good laugh at Beav's expense. And Carrie said he puked on her shoes, so yeah, we thought that's what happened. He never acted like he did it. I know it's a piss poor excuse, but that's all I got. I'm a fuck-up." Dick couldn't seem to meet either of their eyes. "I honestly thought he couldn't do it."

"Well he did, Dick. And so that's your reason why what's going on here is my business."

"It's been _twelve _years, Veronica! Will you ever just get over it?" Dick's voice began to rise in exasperation. "I'm sorry, Ronnie. I really am sorry."

Veronica stood up. "I'm working on getting over it, Dick. But that was more than a year of hell for me, highlighted by what happened that night. Thank you for your apology, but honestly? Honestly you're not here because I want you here. I'm doing this for Logan. For some reason, you're like a brother to him, so I have to put up with you. I don't have to like it. Mac, when you're done here, I still have a spot on the floor that's got your name on it." Veronica paused to give her an enquiring stare before heading to her room, leaving Mac to deal with Dick gaping after her.

He turned his attention to Mac, apprehension in his eye. She stepped closer to the couch, but not near enough to sit, so Dick stood up to stare at her from across the coffee table, saying, "I wish you wouldn't look at me like that."

"How am I supposed to look at you?"

"Like you're not judging me for a drunken stupid-ass mistake that happened twelve years ago, like the way Veronica probably will for the rest of her life."

"She's been hurt by a lot of people. Can you really blame her?"

"I don't want to talk about Veronica," Dick said, stepping around the table and towards her. "She's not what matters right now."

His eyes were piercing into her as if trying to see into her soul. She turned away, breaking the contact. "She matters."

Mac could hear his frustrated blow of air. "Fine. She matters, yes. But does how she feel have to affect how you feel? What we were doing in there, Mac, had _nothing _to do with Veronica. It had _nothing _to do with Cassidy. It had _everything _to do with _us. _Can't you see that?"

"There is no _us,_" Mac told him stubbornly.

"We've had this argument before, Mac, and I'm telling you again: This is happening. It's happening right now, for God's sake. I've been here, in this teeny apartment, sleeping on this rickety old couch for _days_ and you really buy that it's just because the doctor told me to?"

"You said it was for the foundation." She risked a glance at him.

He had come to stand about two feet away, his head tipped down, earnestly looking at her. "Well, yes, it was for the foundation, but I knew right away that…that I could have anyone I wanted to stay with me. I can hire someone. But I chose to stay here. Why do you suppose that is?"

When she didn't answer, he stepped back, looking her up and down, his eyes taking in her plain garb, eyes ablaze. "Fine. Fine. Don't answer me. I don't need an answer right now. I've waited long enough. I suppose one more night won't matter. Go run to Veronica. I'm assuming you'll be sleeping on her floor, so if you don't mind, I'm sleeping on your bed. You're welcome to join me. Any time." With that, Dick, giving her one last burning look, stepped around her and into her room, leaving the door cracked open enough for her to see him roughly throwing back the covers of her bed and then storm into the bathroom, leaving it up to her to decide whether to join him or not.

* * *

Veronica was waiting for her when Mac finally stepped into the back room. Mac met her eyes briefly, breaking the contact before she could see the condescension in her friend's eye. Closing the door, she stalked to the closet, opening it and grabbing down the extra blankets that she had used a few nights before, the first night Dick had spent with them. Still not looking directly at Veronica, she began arranging the bedding on the floor.

Mac was frustrated. Frustrated with herself. She was frustrated with Veronica. She was frustrated that the night had ended up with her on the floor in Veronica's room, too timid to join Dick in her room. Now that the moment had ended and her head had cleared, she was still wishing that she were with him, being warmed by him, forgetting reality. Instead, however, she had chosen to not disappoint her friend and had come running, hiding from what she would rather have.

"Did you have sex with Dick?" Veronica's voice interrupted her reverie, cutting through the silence in the room. "Because I've got to tell you, Mac, I've always pegged you as smarter than that."

A exasperated laugh burbled out of Mac's throat as she continued with her task. "You are overstepping your rightful bounds of curiosity there, V."

"You're the one that came to me, that first night he was here, freaked out that he was in your bed, and that you _knew _ you needed to stay away from him. What do you expect me to think here?"

"I guess I'm a little more protective of how I'm feeling now. I don't want to talk about it."

There was a momentary silence. "Dick will hurt you, Mac."

Pausing as she fluffed the pillow, Mac sat up, turning to glare at her. "Who says I'm not aware of it?"

Taken aback at the fierceness of Mac's words, Veronica visibly pulled back. She held her hands up in defeat. "Look, I'm not trying to piss you off. I just don't want to have to pick up the pieces when he's through with you."

"Who sets out to get hurt? Besides, I know exactly what Dick's about. He's a wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am kind of guy. I'm over that. It's not like I'm asking for roses and a ring." She grimaced. "Not even a freaking date. Although," she added, roughly unfolding a blanket to spread it out, "if you can count purchased items, he did buy me a drink tonight, I suppose." Finishing making her makeshift bed, Mac twisted herself so that she could sit to face Veronica.

"Wow. I guess if you're on the same page…"

"Why do you seem to think I would be so stupid think that Dick wants any more than a notch in his belt? I just wanted an hour. An hour to forget about this hell I've been going through." A look of understanding passed in Veronica's eyes. "I know he doesn't want anything long-term."

Veronica gaped at her. "Do _you_? With him?"

Realizing what she had just said, Mac broke eye contact, feeling her face heat with embarrassment. "That's not what I meant. I just meant I'm not expecting anything out of him except…sex. That's all it would be. I know that's all he wants, and I guess if we both get what we want, there's nothing to worry about. No string's attached. I didn't ask him for the moon or anything. We'd both walk away in the morning."

"Mac." Her tone was serious. "I'm sorry I interrupted now."

Letting out a harsh laugh, Mac rolled her eyes. "That's not true. You can't stand him."

"Just because I can't stand the guy doesn't mean you have to not like him. If you're into one night stands and you like him enough to…well, I can try to tolerate it. The good thing about a one-night stand is I only have to deal with one awkward breakfast the morning after…and I've been doing that all week, so what's new? I know that comfort, even for a night, goes a long way when dealing with what all we're dealing with here. You've been under an extreme amount of pressure. But that's why I worry, because Dick…could seriously take advantage of that. And hurt you. Hurt you badly. I don't want that for you." Veronica chewed her lip. "Just…be careful, Mac. He's a Casablancas. Are you sure that's the best thing for you?" Shaking her head, she held a hand up. "Actually, don't answer that. It's absolutely none of my business. I've spoken my piece and I'm done." Her eyes half-closed in jest, "As long as you are aware that Dick's track history suggests that he may have an STD or two and a few kids floating around somewhere," she smiled when Mac began to laugh, "He's just not the serious type. I don't want you getting your hopes up…he's not really into serious relationships. But I guess if you want him, who am I to keep you from it? You know what he did back then. You know more about Dick than any of us, save Logan. And Logan is nothing if not protective of Dick. But I…I just mostly don't want to have to pick the pieces up if and when he crushes you."

"I don't plan on him crushing me. I am fully aware of what he's like." Mac felt her anger melting away as all her confusion came bubbling out. " I know he's the temporary type. I _know_ it, but there's just something about him that irresistible to me. I really don't know what I'm doing here. Usually, I'm in control, but this? This is uncharted territory."

"He's not who I want for you." Veronica paused and then added, reflectively, "But Logan's not who my dad ever wanted for me…not to mention what you or Wallace wanted. Sometimes all that matters is what we need in the moment. I'll get over it, I suppose. But honestly, I wish you could choose someone more…vanilla." Veronica laughed. "I've tried vanilla, and though it's easier to watch someone with vanilla….I've always been more of the Rocky Road type."

Mac smiled back. "Logan's not so much Rocky Road anymore...and I never minded him, even when he was. You two work well together. "

"Well, I do hope he can't be defined as Vanilla."

"No. Not at all." Mac grinned. "How many more days?"

"We're at month. Exactly." Veronica brushed that aside. "Anyway, we're talking about you and Dick."

"There is no me and Dick. I had a moment of weakness, and it's…it's over."

Veronica laughed. "I had a moment of weakness with someone that I hated and I still love him, eleven years later. Sometimes we don't get to choose. I just hope that you're careful. Your moment of weakness could possibly be just a quick lay for him."

Alarm shot through Mac. "No one said anything about love, V."

Veronica just looked at her. "Mac. I've seen the way you've been looking at him. I'm telling you, tread lightly."

They turned the lights out not long after, hoping for sleep, but Mac lay staring at the ceiling for a long time, mulling over what her best friend had said. Mac had thought she was being careful with how she was around Dick and that she had been guarding herself more than that. Apparently not. Terrific.

* * *

_Veronica could feel the warmth on her skin, the feel of lips running along the base of her throat, the raking of fingertips along her arms and down the length of her torso. She gasped, the feel of their joining making her breathless. She opened her eyes to see Logan's warm brown eyes gazing into hers, a satisfied smile lingering on his lips as he leaned in to graze his mouth across hers. Lifting up, he said, "It's been too long."_

_Veronica sighed in contentment, her arms pulling him closer into her. She could hear his heart beat thudding lightly in her ear. Meeting his lips, she kissed him deeply, as if to suck his soul into her. She felt…lost inside his arms, but home at the same time. No one else could make her feel this serene. She never wanted it to end._

_Logan pulled from her then, lying on his side, pulling her to face him. He stared at her and brushed a stray hair from her eyes, tucking it behind her ear, his deep brown eyes almost black in the light. "Six months felt like sixty years, knowing you were here waiting for me."_

_A smile played on her lips. "Nine years has nothing on one hundred and eighty days." Her eyes wandered over his face, taking in every line and contour, imprinting them to her memory. His hair was cut short, a requirement of the Navy and he was tanned from too much time in the sun. Logan's eyes were crinkled in amusement, watching her watch him. "What? Can't my eyes adore you?" She asked, pouting._

_In answer, he tipped his head to capture her lips, rising up to cover her body with his. Deepening the kiss, he took her warmth, pulling away lightly to rub his cheek across hers, his stubbled-skin feeling wonderful as he dragged kisses down her neck, to plant a deep, tingling kiss at her collar bone. _

_Tears suddenly sprang to her eyes and a cry tore from her throat. There was something…not right about this moment, something niggling at the back of her mind. Her head began to twist back and forth…._

The moonlight woke Veronica; she was bathed in a fine sheen of sweat. Her eyes glanced down to where Mac lay on the floor, thankfully still deeply asleep. Veronica wondered if she had called out, hoping not. Taking in deep breaths, she realized that her tears were not just in her dream; they had actually begun to leak from her eyes. Sitting up, she reached for her laptop that sat between her nightstand and bed. She flipped it open and booted it up, logging onto her email and began writing:

_Dear Logan,_

_I miss you. Ridiculously miss you. I just dreamed of you here…and I woke up crying. Less than a month to go and I'm slowly going insane. I'm praying you are all right on your mission and that you return safely to my arms. _

_I loved your gifts. I loved your letters. They were all perfect, and I can't wait to wear that dress…actually, I can't wait for you to rip it off me. Do you have suggestions of where we should stay when you return? I have a feeling we won't want to make the drive back to Neptune…even if you want to, I don't think I can make it back, fyi. I seriously hope that Dick hasn't planned some crazy bash that night, but if he has, I'm calling dibs right now. And I have veto power over all others._

_We have been hard at work with both Dick and Madison's cases. Tomorrow we are going to talk to Madison's family about some developments, and hopefully wrap that up soon. It seems like it just might be close, but one never can tell._

_Dick's case is starting to…blow up, actually. I'm starting to worry about his safety, and about who is after him. We just found a connection to The Castle—from Hearst. Do you remember anything about them? They're the ones directly involved with…my tape from then. And now it looks like they are trying to keep Dick from going forward with his foundation that he has been trying to start. We're just now getting into it, but it's not looking as if this is a simple case of too much alcohol. _

_I wish you were here, right now. Dick is staying with us, like you asked…but we've found out that he isn't really a danger to himself. There seems to be an underlying worry that someone really has it out for him. Who knows how dangerous it really is, but we're being cautious. We all need to sit down and talk about the course of the next few days, because Dad and I are probably going to need to leave town for Madison's case, and I doubt he'll want to go along. It will involve a flight and we can only charge the client so much…so it would it have to be up to him._

_I can't wait to take some needed time off when you get here. I've already talked to Dad about a break, and he seems good with that idea. So start thinking of all the places you can take me to show me off, wink, wink. Actually, think of all the places that deliver, because I think we should just plan to spend the entire time locked in a room somewhere._

_Less than a month by my clock! I am sooooo glad that the countdown is actually attainable now._

_Spanning continents. Love you._

_Veronica_

Reading over her words, Veronica pressed send, wondering just when he might actually read it, wishing, not for the first time that she could just transport herself with the words to where he was, to crawl into his arms and just be with him, even for a night.

Flipping through her photo files on her laptop, she found a file labeled 'LoVe,' opened it and went through each picture, ones that she had scanned from years ago and ones from recently, pictures from their short two weeks from getting back together and to the time he deployed. There were other pictures that she stored there, ones that he had forwarded of him on the Air Craft Carrier and some from their time apart over the course of nine long years.

Staring at the date at the bottom of her screen, she rejoiced in the knowledge that in less than thirty days, she would be physically in his arms and not imagining any longer. Eventually, she slept.

* * *

Morning came faster than Mac was prepared for. She woke well before Veronica did and quietly left the room, heading to her own room, mentally preparing herself before knocking on the door lightly and letting herself in. She had done a lot of thinking while trying to go to sleep the night before, and as much as she had told Veronica that the moment had passed, the truth was, it had not passed. She was still a bundle of nerves and energy, all senses hyper-aware of everything around her.

After talking with Veronica, thoughts of the past few days and conversations kept going around like a reel in her head. Just the fact that Veronica could understand why Mac was weakening around Dick made Mac weaken that much more. But there was still a hesitant part of her, part of her that scared her to death to give too much to him. Veronica had a point when she said the Dick wasn't into long-term relationships…but, Mac realized, the same could almost be said of her. Anytime anyone got too close, she found some excuse to break it off. The last boyfriend she had, had been more than a year ago, a computer geek that worked at Sun Micro Systems with her. That had been part of the reason she had taken the Kane Software job, to get away from Collin. He was completely the opposite of the man she normally was interested in, but they had a lot in common, and that had been the reason for their first date. Suddenly they had been on five, then six, then countless other dates. She hadn't even noticed that he was all of the sudden thinking they were exclusive (which, truth be known, they were, but it freaked her out when he said it). She had promptly come up with an excuse to not make their dates and started to dodge him in the hallways at work. And that, she found out the hard way, is why you do not mix business with pleasure. Completely awkward.

Within weeks she had made the switch to Kane Software. And from then until now, she had been on a total of two dates with two different men, never bothering to call either man back. She just hadn't been interested. There was nothing there to be interested in. It seemed to take too much time to muddle through all their blabbering's to get to the meat of the conversation. They just weren't what she was looking for. Honestly, she hadn't given much thought into what she was actually looking for, but she realized now that it was a look that she was searching for, one that would make her toes curl. Tonight, she had felt that curl. But the look had been from Dick. And as much as she appreciated that he created that response, she was still a lot freaked out by the revelation. She knew that just because she had been searching for that look…in all likelihood, he had not been. Why would he? There was just no way. He had access to all sorts of women, and she would just be another conquest for him. Mac would just have to be satisfied with what he gave her.

Shutting the door quietly, she looked over to the sleeping form of Dick buried in her bed. She could see that he hadn't been lying about liking it hot in his bed; the only part of him visible was the crop of his blond hair on the pillow. Mac stepped silently to the edge of the bed, wondering what exactly she should do.

Decisively, she pulled her top off of her, and the sweats were next to go. She was left in nothing but a sports bra and panties, and, deciding to not look too desperate, left those on, climbed into the bed next to him, underneath the light comforter and top sheet. He was on his stomach, completely out of it. She smiled to herself as she tucked herself into the crook of his arm.

It took him a few minutes to sense she was there. Before he stirred, she tipped her mouth into the side of his chest to place a soft kiss there, her arm snaking around his back. Dick twisted to his side, coming alive beneath her, bringing his arms up and under her, pulling her into him, pressing her tightly into his chest. He was clad in only boxer briefs, and she could the feel of the smooth fabric rubbing into her thighs as he crushed her against him, bringing his mouth to hers, almost inhaling her. His tongue made quick work of invading her mouth. His hand ran up and down the length of her, fingertips pushing the fabric of her bra up and over her breasts, touching her there. A sigh escaped her and she arched into him, relishing the heat that his body was radiating. Pulling at her, Dick rolled onto his back, bringing her with him until Mac sat astride him, looking down into his face. His eyes were closed, his hands roaming her body, pushing her closer into him. Mac leaned down to kiss his lips, and abruptly he stiffened and pulled his lips away from hers, eyes popping open.

He became completely awake all at once and he stared at her. "You're real."

"Last time I checked, yeah." She smiled at his shocked expression.

He rose up to meet her halfway, hands wrapping around her waist to tug her into his body, his mouth seeking hers hungrily, dropping to kiss her throat, lowering even further. She wrapped her legs around his waist, drawing herself closer to him still, hands raking down his back as his mouth trailed down to capture a breast in his mouth, causing a gasp of pleasure from her. Mac grabbed fistfuls of his hair, pulling and tugging as his mouth worked its magic.

His hands were everywhere: running down her back, into her hair. Pausing at the band of her panties he tore his mouth away to look at her in amazement. "What are you doing here?"

Breathing heavily, she tried to ignore his question, choosing instead to try and push him back onto the bed, but Dick was having none of it. Taking hold of her wrists, he pulled himself out from under her to really look at her. "Mac?"

She gave him as teasing a look as she could muster. "Just…finishing what we started." His eyes were dilated and she was surprised at his control. Trying to distract him, she pulled her bra up and over her head, flinging it across the room and then reaching for his head, bringing him again towards her waiting breasts. Momentarily sidetracked, Dick nuzzled her there, rubbing his face into her, nipping and licking her lightly. Franticly, she arched herself further into his mouth, and he growled in approval, suddenly cupping her and flipping her over, so she lay on the bed, and Dick atop her. His thigh nudged her legs apart to rest between them, lightly rubbing her center. Again, he pulled back to look at her. "Mac?"

"Can we just not talk?" She finally asked him, panting, trying to kiss him, "I really don't want to stop."

His eyes crinkled with humor, pulling away from her a little. "Yeah, I got that. But…"

Here it was. Dick had changed his mind. Her body was not ready to stop, and here he was telling her that he didn't want to. Her brain was combating about why he wouldn't want to so when he told her, "We need a condom," and all she could think of to do was to give a sharp cry of relieved laughter, climbing out from under him and digging into her nightstand, producing what he had so wisely requested.

Throwing it at him, he grabbed at it like it was a lifeline, watching as she shed her underwear and scrambled back into the bed with him. Pushing the pillows to the headboard, Dick lay back against them, sitting up, opening his legs and motioning for her so sit between them, her back to his stomach. She did so, lying back, feeling his sinewy skin against her, melting into him. Her head dropped back to rest on his chest, relaxing there while his hands began the task of running up and down her arms, over them to her flat stomach, teasing her breasts. His lips nuzzled the smooth skin of her neck and she felt herself coming undone under his touch.

He kept at his mission, hands skillfully caressing her until she was in a fine frenzy, finally letting her twist in his embrace so she could kiss his mouth full on, pushing herself against his chest, hands in his hair, thumbs under the base of his ears. Her elbows were tucked between and she kissed him deeply, sudden emotion swelling at his gentle way at loving her…she was stunned at how thoughtful and unselfish he was being.

She loved the feel of his hands touching her. She loved the way his mouth broke from her to kiss the sensitive skin that ran along her jawline, loved the way it made her shiver with anticipation. Loved how suddenly he was becoming feverish, as her hands ran across his skin. How he let out a hiss when her fingers dipped under the band of his briefs, to lightly trace the tip of him, his eyes darkening in pleasure. She loved the way that her actions seemed to make him feel tauter beneath her touch.

He pulled away from her now, to shed his boxer briefs and roll her over, grabbing the foil package that he had set aside, ripping it one handed and sheathing himself in one fluid motion. He returned to her but instead of pushing himself into her like she expected him to, he paused, looking at the span of her. Holding her eyes with his, he placed a thumb on her center, surprising her even more, rubbing it just so that she bucked completely up and into him, crying out, hands grabbing a hold of his shoulders as he kept at it, and when she arched into him again, his mouth was suddenly running hotly between her breasts, finding the tips and playing with them each in turn before finally entering her and losing himself just as she exploded around him in a hot, blinding rush of sheer pleasure.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading. Thanks for commenting. Thanks for the favorites and follows. I love to read your comments. I hope I didn't just, as they say, 'jump the shark' here. I am working on the mystery, but the next chapter will not be about the mysteries at all, instead a rare treat into Dick's head. It will most likely not be as long as the other chapters but them's the breaks. Please if you have the time, I would love to hear from you. It helps me to know if you are enjoying it. Thanks.**


	15. Chapter 15 Recap

**A/N: Ah. so thank you all for your reviews/follows/favorites. This chapter is all Dick's POV. It really is like a dive into his head, things coming at us from all directions. I hope you can follow along with his thinking. I pretty much stuck to his brief thoughts on the past 5 days,in order, in how it's happened in my storyline, mixed in with other things (like sandwiches-shout out, BeWitchingRedhead36-enjoy the few times he thinks about making one;D). I figure it may be a lot broody, but I write more broody than snarky, so add your own snark to his thoughts where you can. I think this chapter kind of turned into verbal diarrhea, it goes everywhere all at once, haha. So take that with a grain of salt. I wanted to get as much in this as possible and then start back into the mysteries in the next chapter. Rated T+ for an F bomb  
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Chapter 15 Recap

They both lay there, spent, breathing hard. Dick couldn't believe that he was finally here, with _Mac_, having just done what they did, her tight little body beneath him. Not wanting to break the moment, he kept his head buried in her hair, breathing in the scent of her apple-berry shampoo. She wrapped her arms around his back and kissed his neck lightly, laughing, lightening the moment. "Thank you for that," she told him, into his neck, "Seriously, you have _no _idea how badly I needed that."

"You have _no_ idea how badly_ I_ needed that," he repeated in kind, voice muffled by her hair. He was careful to not squash her, aware that he was indeed becoming more relaxed by the moment and starting to rest on her body. He rolled off of her, carefully taking the condom off and dropping it to the floor, on top of his discarded briefs, reluctant to leave her to dispose of it. "Later," he told her pointedly, wrapping his arms around her, tucking her head beneath his armpit, squeezing her into him tightly. "Do you want to sleep for a bit? It's early yet." In answer, Mac buried her head closer into his chest. Wrapping an arm over him, she sighed heavily and Dick could feel her body relax.

He still wasn't completely sure if he were dreaming. When he had left Mac standing in the living room the night before, he had been positive there would be no way she would come to him after the debacle with Veronica. All the old dirty laundry dragged up by damn Nancy Drew and Dick with no defense. He had spent years reasoning within himself as to why he had done what he done that night at Shelley's so many years ago; and though he tried to rationalize it to himself, he knew there was no justification for his actions. Nevertheless, it had happened, so he had learned to live with it. Veronica's refusal to let it go didn't surprise him even though he wished she would. It would make his life easier.

The past few days had been a complete unexpected turn of events. Waking up in that hospital room had scared the shit out of him, like he had said, and then Mac had walked in, calling out his name, looking at him like he was going insane. And suddenly he felt crazy, because what the hell was Cindy 'Mac' Mackenzie doing there, calming him down? The only time she ever did that was in his mind, talking him down off the edge of a nightmare. She had looked so good, standing there, in her little business suit, and there he was in an ass-less hospital-issued gown, a freaking mess compared to her put-together adult self. Immediately, he could see it in her eyes: a look of utter disappointment and, hell, he didn't know, it almost was as if she wasn't surprised to finally have found him that way.

It shamed him. Because he knew that look was warranted. What had he ever done to prove himself otherwise to her? As if he had ever attempted. He had always been too afraid to try with her. Mac was someone that he could have let in, someone that understood so much of him, but it was fear that kept him from her. She had always been so untouchable. One look between them carried more weight than any other look that he had shared with any other woman, even back in college. Instead of acting on it back then, he had gone on with his business and done his own thing, only thinking consciously of Mac when he was alone in the dark, recalling all the times in their past; wondering what he could have done differently to get to know her at all. As much as he denied that spark, there _was_ a spark there, between them. Something he couldn't define.

But then the hospital had happened. And Dr. Morris told him to stay with someone, and God, was he really that much of a fuckup that he couldn't be left alone for more than five minutes? _How the hell had he let it get this bad that he had to have supervision?_ He never thought he was that bad, but his condition stated otherwise. As a result of feeling like an utter failure, he had gone along with the plan. He went home with Mac, playing ever the jack-ass she expected, attempting for some semblance of normalcy, trying to keep himself from bolting. Besides, he had always had a keen sense of snarky wordage when he was under pressure or nervous. It would have come as a shock to all involved if he would have been humble and complacent. His carefree attitude had always seemed normal to everyone, but for Dick it was just a piece of the armor he wore, letting everyone think that was his way. The only one who even knew or cared enough to know the truth was Logan, and even then, Dick only let certain amounts of himself out at a time around his best friend. Everyone either loved or hated fun-lovin' Dick because that was the persona he allowed to show. He was sure a lot of people just figured he had ADD or something similar.

The truth was that Dick was a bit of a worrier. He worried about Logan; about whether his friend would be called to battle and whether he would return home in alive or in a pine box. He worried about his employees. He worried about whether he could keep the Water Dog afloat; because regardless of what he had told Veronica, there had been a few snares along the way that he was coming to suspect was probably because of the Castle. He worried about the foundation and about the kids that needed help _now, _not _later_, after the facility was running. He worried about becoming like Cassidy, on rare occasions. He worried about most things.

Consequently, the first night here lying in Mac's bed, worrying about why he had gotten there, he became determined. Dick wanted to prove to Mac and possibly to himself… that what had happened to him was a one-time deal, and that he had become a fully-functioning adult. He wasn't even sure why he was trying to prove it, but he kept at it. Their first talk about Cassidy…had almost done him in, seeing that crushed look in her eyes, talking about what Cassidy was and how he had two personalities.

Mac didn't even know the half of it. Maybe someday he would be able to stomach telling her about the neighbor's dead cats and their mouse traps; Cassidy's affinity to dead things and dissection. About what Beav had done to Dick's dog, the little yapping thing their mother had given as consolation for leaving every summer, the year Dick entered high school and Cassidy was still in junior high. He still had nightmares from the morning he had found that dog, swinging from her tether, pushed off the edge of the deck, strangled to death, eyes bulging from their sockets. Dick knew immediately how it had happened; they never kept Sally strung up on top of their deck. The week before that had occurred; Dick had naively played what he thought to be a harmless prank on Cassidy: putting pepper spray on the door handle to the bathroom. It had been mean but they were always back and forth with their jokes, always kicking it up a notch with each new trick. He had thought Beav would just wash the stuff right off his hands, but instead, he had rubbed it into his eyes, causing some serious pain, but thank goodness no real harm. Dick had apologized up and down, regretting it instantly, but Cassidy had not taken his apology kindly and vowed revenge. Subsequently, the utter look of glee in Beav's eye as Dick had run past him to puke in the toilet after he discovered Sally had been proof enough that he was responsible, but Dick had never had the guts to tell his dad the truth. The freaky gleam in Beav's eye warned him not to ever dare. Instead, he had bourn the lecture from Dick Sr. about the need to become responsible and use his head when caring for their pets, and because Dick was too careless, they would not be getting another pet.

But that was neither here nor there. Dick and Mac had come home from her office on Saturday together and he had started to wonder slightly why he wasn't sicker. He began to internally question and worry, of course, whether the doctor had known what he was talking about when he had said that Dick needed supervision. Instead of voicing his worry, however, he had sat watching a movie, snuggled into Mac on the couch, enjoying the way she kept squirming away from him, as if he were toxic or something. He had tried to calm her, tried to make her understand that he could be trusted, so he had taken a hold of her hand, stunned when an electric shock bolted through him. All he could do was hold on for dear life.

She had felt better than he possibly could have imagined. Dick had carried Mac to her bed, laid her down, and everything within him wanted to lay down next to her, to press himself into her…instead he had gone into the kitchen, made himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (no lunchmeat to be found in that damn fridge), and then grumpily arranged a makeshift bed on the damn rickety couch.

Sunday had come and with it all his actual responsibilities; he knew he had to get to his office. Taking Mac with him, he had not missed the impressed look on her face as they wended their way through the Water Dog, her eyes taking in all that he had done to the place. He remembered once, when he had first opened the shop, Mac had come in. There was no way to miss her: a short brunette with orange streaks in her hair slipping through the door. He had been busy with a customer and by the time he had excused himself, she was gone. He had even stepped out onto the sidewalk to see if she was there, but she had disappeared into the crowd. Dick seemed to recall many times in the past nine years where similar things would happen, he'd see her, decide to approach and she'd evaporate into thin air. Most of the time, he assumed it was his mind playing tricks on him, seeing her at random times. But he knew he had seen her there that day.

Work had consumed him Sunday morning, and he had kind of forgotten Mac was even there. Dick had timesheets and payroll to deal with, expense reports and orders that needed recorded. He had finally read Logan's email, sent the Wednesday before, but because of all his preoccupation with the panel he hadn't even opened it until then. Logan had made a special request that only Dick could take care of, which, damn; he needed to get on that soon. Logan would never forgive him if he didn't get those tickets purchased. He had started to work on it until Veronica came in with lunch and the college kid, setting the project aside while they interviewed the guy. He hadn't thought about it since. He made a mental note to do some research on it first thing in the morning.

As Todd, the college kid, went on and on about how Dick had been behaving at the beach, it had been shocking when Mac had stood up and left in anger. But it had given Dick a little fuel for his own anger and frustration. Here _he_ was, stuck with these two women who _always_ assumed the worst in him, and here _it _was: proof that he really was just an irresponsible moron. The way that kid had talked about how careless Dick had been—it freaked him out. At some point in the past nine years, Dick had successfully stopped being quite so irresponsible. He had a career and people that counted on him. He had the foundation, which was the most important thing that he had ever been a part of, and he couldn't screw it up. It was so close to being screwed up without any negative influence on his part.

And Veronica, she had this way of looking at him like he was pond scum. Well, in a way, he knew that he was pond scum, or at least, he had been at one time. Mac had stormed out and Veronica had given him _that _look, carrying on as if her friend hadn't even left or as if it didn't matter at all. As if when Mac had left the room, she hadn't taken his heart and smashed it to the ground; the way she implied that he was a fool and old enough to know better. Everything she said was true, it was nothing he hadn't thought to himself –but to hear her say it stung.

Waiting for her to come home that night, Dick had just gotten angrier and angrier at the injustice of it all. Why, after all these years, was he suddenly thrown into _Mac's_ pathway, only for her to step and stomp all over him, thinking the worst of him? He was mad as hell, and she, as usual, was assuming the _worst _about him. He couldn't risk it anymore. He was not surprised to realize that he had always wanted her, wanted her in an unattainable way, but now, _now_ was his chance to get what he wanted. Dick was done lying to himself about it. For so long, he had led himself to believe that there was no way that he would ever get even a moment in time with her again, seemed too much to ever believe he could have a chance to be a real part of her life. So he told her, in the best way he knew how, that he _knew _her and _understood _her, and she blew up at him, screaming about how he was a player and there was no way she would fall for his ploys.

He didn't know what he had expected. The argument that resulted wasn't necessarily unforeseen, not really. He had been angry and she was upset, but the ferocious way she had fought him had actually made him realize that he might have a chance with her. In the heat of the moment, he had kissed her and in that instant—her reaction had been so intense, he knew, _knew_ she felt it. There was no way she didn't. So instead of pushing, Dick started pulling back. He didn't argue when Wallace came to babysit him, instead washing chalkboards and goofing off all day at Neptune High. And when he saw her again at MI, their eyes connected, his voice caught…and he knew he was a goner. Gone, baby, gone.

And, oh. My. God. That class. That _pole._ Those _moves. _The look in her eye when she saw him watching her. Mac had no idea that he knew, that he _knew_ she saw him. That he saw the immediate change in her movement when she realized he was there. He could see the rev in her thrusting and the extra pump of her head that she gave as she rose back up. She had no _idea _that he was forced to go take a cold shower to…to take care of himself.

Instead of teasing her mercilessly, he had only subtly commented once about it and let it go, choosing instead the path of maturity, and actually, choosing that little show to keep him company the next two nights. It was either that or eat more PBJs, and honestly, he never liked frou-frou bread with seeds and all that shit on it anyways, so a little strip-tease never hurt anything and it kept him company anyhow.

The revelation that Mac had been at the Grand and had a run-in with Mr. Aidan Muldoon boiled his blood. It worried and sickened him at the same time, thinking of what could have happened to her. As much as all this was screwing up his own life, he recognized that she could have easily been hit with something similar or worse. Much worse. It was for damn sure a good thing that Mr. Muldoon had an agenda that night, because the look and movements on that footage was enough for Dick to know a predator when he saw one. He had just missed the look in the dude's eye because Dick had been too preoccupied. It made him want to kill the bastard, just the way he had looked at Mac, like she was meat for the taking. _Not available, man. Hands off, ass-hole_.

Having to explain about the foundation had been awkward but necessary. Listening to her explain about Thursday had been awkward but necessary, and hurtful, the way she had closed into herself, remembering. The look she had given him was filled with warning to stay away, and of course, she had successfully turned the conversation back on him, asking about the alcohol.

He was so glad that he wasn't an alcoholic. He was grateful the doctor had confirmed what he already firmly knew, deep down. It wasn't the best news, realizing that the Castle was involved, but he could beat that better than another demon inside himself. One more could just put him over the brink.

At the Grand, he had lost a little control. She had pretty much jumped on him, and if he wouldn't have just seen Aidan Muldoon across the way, Dick would have gone straight to the check-in counter and paid for the most expensive room in the place for ten minutes alone with Mac. Instead, he had reluctantly set her back to the ground, heading out to the Valet, thinking boring thoughts like how many planes were on the Air Craft Carrier that Logan was on and how many gallons of fuel each one must hold. Totally mundane and off the subject from silky skin and smooth lips, her breasts pushing up against his chest, and a short skirt slightly riding up Mac's thighs.

Discovering what they had about the Castle had put all thoughts of soft skin aside temporarily. Going over why he had been involved with the Castle made the evening turn too serious and therefore, he had been able to keep his mind off of chance meetings in the dark. He had assumed all of the information that they had gleaned at the office had ruined that hot moment back at the Grand and he resigned himself to another cold night alone on the rickety couch.

Her interesting topic on the way home had been unexpected; he wasn't really sure what had brought on that line of questioning. He hadn't been sure if she was ready for complete honesty there; about why he had given Cassidy and her such a hard time back then. Dick wasn't sure he was ready for complete honesty himself. He liked to keep from obsessing too much about that time, but really, there were many reasons why he had been so difficult when Mac dated Cassidy. For one, Dick worried about what Cassidy was capable of. His brother was terrible to the people he 'loved,' and Dick obsessed a little bit about what Beav might do to Mac if she hurt him. For another, Dick really had been jealous of his brother. He hadn't been lying when he had said that. He just hadn't explained the full extent of it.

Bringing up high school and even Madison made him a little uncomfortable. Those were the days before he had much of a back bone, having found it easier to just go with the flow of the ideas and prodding from his father. Madison Sinclair had been pushed on him. Honestly, he had enjoyed spending time with Madison's family more than he had liked spending time alone with her. He liked playing catch with her little sister, Lauren, and even playing pool with her dad. Her mother had a sparkle in her eye that had been familiar somehow; he didn't know, but somehow it was nice, like she understood him a little. But Madison, she was another story. She was demanding and over-the-top most of the time. She treated Dick like an empty-headed piece of eye-candy, which ironically, was how he treated her, so it was even kill, he supposed. And it was true that Dick Sr. had pushed his relationship with Madison. Dick's dad had really thought that Madison could be swayed at an early age. Truthfully, Dick had liked not having to think too much in that part of his life. It was easier to not create trouble between any of his family members, so he did what Dick Sr. said and dated Madison. He had pretended that she mattered; it had seemed like a good plan to just go with what he was told to do.

He had never even thought about what it would be like to tell Dick Sr. no. Even once Dick Sr. was gone, running from the law; Dick had felt the expectation to keep up with appearances. If Dick Sr. had just burned their chances of being financially secure on their own, Dick Jr. had better keep up with the 09ers and the people that counted. So he pursued what he thought Madison represented: security. But Beaver was the complete opposite. One day, here Cassidy came with Mac. Holding her hand, laughing at their smart humor, not even caring what anyone else thought except the fact that Mac seemed to like him for some insane reason. Dick had been shocked that Mac would even consider dating 'up;' and he had a knee-jerk reaction the whole time they were together. It had never occurred to him that Mac would look twice at either Casablancas, not when Veronica Mars was her best friend.

Cassidy had seemed to really like or even love Mac; he seemed content with what he had with Mac. It had been an epiphany, really, watching Beaver with Mac and even watching Logan pine for Veronica, senior year and then for the past decade. Proof to Dick that money meant little to nothing, when it came to what really mattered in life, because neither of those girls had much to offer besides their love. Dick began to realize—he needed a better purpose than just keeping up with what was expected. But the problem was his purpose and his need had already been taken—by Cassidy. Cassidy, the mean, crazy little sucker who could pull the wool over everyone's eyes making people believe that _he _was normal and that _Dick _was the troubled one. Cassidy played calm and collected, which in turn made Dick seem off-balanced because they were polar-opposite brothers. Cassidy was smart, smarter than anyone really gave him credit for, and that made his end-game work for a long time. Dick had never excelled in anything except being a jack ass. It was easy being one, and besides, Dick wasn't naive in thinking that Cassidy never tainted Mac's mind about everything Dick did back then. He hadn't made it any easier on himself. He knew what Mac thought of him the year she was with Cassidy. It wasn't flattering. So yes, when he had said he was jealous, it was because Cassidy was bolder and braver than Dick. But it also meant jealous of the fact that Cassidy had Mac.

Graduation had come and Cassidy had died but instead of rising from the aftermath, Dick sunk as low as he could to try and forget. He couldn't deal for a long time. He obsessed a lot about why he hadn't spoken up sooner about Beaver and his weird habits, worried about the bullying he himself had done to his little brother from early on and the obvious effect that it had played in Beaver's final decision. By the time he had reemerged, Logan had lost Veronica and Mac was gone, their chance meetings over. There was no real reason to ever just run into Mac or even apologize while sober. Mac thought Dick was pond scum and irresponsible and an idiot, all his opportunity lost. He didn't deserve any real contentment anyway, because he was partly to blame for what had happened back then. It was his punishment for being the first domino in the destruction of his brother. He had assumed that the niggling thought in the back of his mind was all he'd ever get of her: just a lost dream that he had to shelf in order to go on with life.

After their talk in the car and they arrived at the apartment last night, Dick had not been thinking of ways to seduce or lure her into bed. Quite the contrary. He figured he would just fix himself yet another sandwich and leave Mac to her brooding; he could sense the wheels turning in her mind the whole ride home, and had expected she would just lock herself in her room alone for the rest of the night. Something serious had been weighing heavily on her mind.

Instead, she had led him into her room, a vixen on a mission, he her willing slave. Astounded at her boldness, he had tried to be cautious, and damn, that had been a poor choice. If he wouldn't have stopped and stuttered, they would have been too far gone for any amount of knocking that Veronica did on the other side of that damn door to stop. Instead, boom! Mac's eyes had registered shock and embarrassment. She had rushed to cover herself, and he knew that the moment was over. He had laughed at her haste to dress, but inside he was boiling. Boiling mad at Veronica and her damn nosiness. Giving Mac an out had seemed like the best course of action, and, again, poor choice. Veronica, not known for her subtlety, had attacked him the minute he came out from changing. Angry as he was, there was no way in hell that he would let her get to him; he would not be cowed down enough to tell her their business.

Mac showed at the worst possible moment, although he had a feeling she had been listening the entire time. Her big brown eyes had stared at him while he had apologized to Veronica for all that shit that went down, his heart constricting as he felt her gaze on him, and he, unable to look at either one of them. Veronica hated him, he knew it; he wondered if she would ever get over it. He hoped so. At least one of them would. He had left Mac, standing in that room, looking impossibly young and vulnerable, reminding him horribly of all those kids that were ignored once abused, believing that any possible chance of her coming to him that night were over. And, not surprisingly, she hadn't come to him; therefore, after two hours of staring at the ceiling, he had finally gotten up and shut the door, giving up. These past few days were flushed down the toilet. Over. He began working out a new game plan of how to soften her up, how to make her see that he could be serious and that he had become someone worth her time.

And then…and then, he had felt her soft body pressing against him, and he thought he was dreaming, so he took what he could, taking his time to taste her, to run his hands across her body and then…she sighed. And he heard it. All the other times he had dreamed this, there was no noise, just a smile from her, a touch or two, and then it would be over. But this time, she sighed. And her lips were on his, and when his eyes opened, and she was there, with him…and, oh, my _God_ he was amazed at his ability to slow down, to make sure she enjoyed it. He had to mentally keep count of his breathing in and out, in and out, when he had her lay back on him, to keep from just taking her there from behind. But he knew if he treated it in the slowest way possible, that he could show her in a way that words could not express, that he wanted her there, with him, always. To make her want to come back for more…because he knew he would never get enough of her. Ever.

She had finally begun the deep breathing of sleep. Pulling her closer into him, Dick kissed the top of Mac's head. He was worried that she would fight this. Yet here she was, snuggled into him. If the past few days had taught him anything, he knew he would have to treat this situation one moment at a time and be ever so careful to not scare her off. There was something going on with her that had made her come to him this morning. Dick cautioned himself to watch his words and actions. He wasn't deluded in thinking that she had suddenly decided she couldn't live without him. Veronica had opened old wounds that would take time to heal up again. He didn't want to say anything that would threaten or upset the strange way their relationship was evolving. If she kicked him out when they got up for the day, he wouldn't argue with her (well he probably would, but he would let her think she won), but he would make it clear that it was her idea and not his. He hoped he could be patient.

**A/N: thanks again for reading. Next up on the agenda is mysteries mysteries mysteries. And angst. Plus some mystery plotline thrown in. Thank you for taking time to read this thing. I appreciate it, and all your feedback, comments, positive or negative. I do hope you continue to enjoy! Please let me know how you think this chapter went. Please forgive me for his rambling.  
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	16. Chapter 16 Resolve

**A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you for your overwhelming encouragement with Dick's POV. That chapter was a bit of a dare and it seemed to work with most all of you. I am planning on peppering his POV throughout from now on, just in spots that seem like good placement. He has one small spot in this chapter toward the end. Rated T for slight language.  
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Chapter 16

Mac woke up an hour later, still curled into Dick's side. He was breathing deeply, asleep. Slipping quietly out of the bed, she headed for the shower, thinking about the day ahead. She knew Keith would be heading to the Ten to look into financial records and that Veronica was planning the visit with the Sinclair's…she wondered about what Dick's plans were, since they now knew he didn't need supervision. She worried now that she had given in and slept with him how long it would take for him to tuck tail and run off into the distance.

Deciding to play as nonchalantly as possible, Mac toweled dry and dressed quickly, having brought her clothes into the bathroom with her. She wanted to open the door to her room to face Dick ready for the day. She didn't need to see his satisfied smirk without being armed in every way possible. And she wasn't even sure what she would say to Veronica, or how her friend would let her play it out. Really, Mac didn't care to have to explain herself to Veronica anyway, but she knew she would probably feel the need to.

Finally, once dressed in black slacks and a red top, Mac opened the door and stepped out to see Dick just beginning to stir. Mac watched as the covers shifted and fell to the floor, exposing Dick's bare chest, his waist covered still by the top sheet. Feeling like a chicken, she slunk to the door to the hallway, opening it and slipping out softly before she had to face him.

Veronica must have sensed danger and left. There was evidence that she was up and gone for the day, including a note next to the coffee maker, full of hot coffee, that sat waiting for her that read:

_Mac:_

_Good morning. Dad is at the Ten with their accountant. He hopes to have something by midmorning. I made the appointment with the Sinclair's for one o'clock. I know that's too soon, but it has to be done. If Dad finds something worthwhile, we can bring it to them. Call me sometime after 10 and we can figure out the game plan. We'll go together. _

_I am headed to the police department again. I have some questions for Norris about both Dick's and Madison's case. I want to know about their reasoning for not filing a report last Thursday. And I wanted to check in to see if perhaps either Madison or Mark has a record that could tell us a little something. I may drop Aidan Muldoon's name to see if there is a certain look of fear on anyone's faces. _

_Also, I was wondering, do you still have the copy of that list we acquired from JK back at Hearst? After all that went down, I gave my paper copy to Nish and then burned all my files. But I hoped maybe you had that somewhere? Names right now would be extremely helpful in following this complicated trail of people. We need to find out just who is involved with this mess._

_TTYL_

_V_

One o'clock. Mac checked the time. She had about five hours left to prepare for the most difficult conversation of her life. At least she knew it would be uncomfortable. If she set her sights as low as possible, it wouldn't end up disappointing expectations when she started longing for 'awkward.'

Pouring herself a cup of coffee, Mac heard the distinct shuffling of Dick coming out of her room. Keeping her eyes on the note as if reading it intently, she freely ignored him when he passed by her to grab a mug down from the cupboard and poured himself some coffee.

Minutes ticked by while Dick found a piece of bread, popping it down in the toaster, making himself busy while Mac went in search for the shoes she wanted to wear for the day. The electricity in the air between them was tangible, but neither would acknowledge it. Finally, Mac returned the kitchen, catching him reading the note Veronica had left her. She briefly entertained getting after him for reading it, but thought better of it, instead choosing to say, "What's your plan for the day?"

Startled, Dick jumped, knowing she had caught him reading the note, the look on his face guilty as he turned to face her. "I'm down with whatev," He told her, giving her a smirk, slowly softening into a genuine smile, softly saying, "Good morning."

Trying to not feel defensive, Mac gave him a look. She chose to ignore his soft expression, her tone harsh when she asked, "Now that we really know you're not a danger to society or yourself, don't you want to get on with your regularly scheduled life? Surely there are things that are of more importance to you than following me around all day."

His smile faded, a brief flash of disappointment spanning his features. Quietly, he responded, "I see how this will go. Get you a fast lay and you're done with me?" A sigh escaped his lips, his eyes staring up to the ceiling as if asking for help from above. "My regular life is being hindered, Mac, by this Castle garbage. So yeah, I think I need to follow you around some more. Sorry to disappoint you." He met her eyes. "What's on_ your_ agenda this morning? I see that Ronnie wants you at the Sinclair's at one. Should I plan to go with you? I just need to get to the beach house sometime this morning."

"Are you moving home?" Mac, embarrassed by how accusing her voice sounded, tried to cover her weakness by speaking over him as he began to respond, defensively saying, "Because if you are, we should probably go and get you a car since we know yours is toast. Maybe I should take you to a car lot first." Pulling open her purse, she began digging through it looking for her keys. "I can take you right now."

She could feel his stare on her, burning through her. He didn't say anything for a full minute. "We can worry about that later. I'm not worried about a car. I have some pressing business that I have to do, and the information I need is at the house. Take me there first. I never said _anything_ about moving home. I just need some paperwork and I can do the rest from MI." As she pulled out her keys, his hand stilled hers, gently pulling them from her fingers. "I'm not going anywhere anytime soon without you."

* * *

They headed right away to the beach house with little words between them. Dick didn't seem to want to talk; he just shoved his feet into his shoes and headed out the door, silently arranging himself behind the wheel of her car as if he owned it. Feeling foolish, Mac followed his lead, not saying anything as she buckled herself into the passenger seat, staring straight out the window.

When they arrived to his house, still Dick said nothing. He got out of the car and headed to his front door, keys in hand. She took her time getting out, absorbed in her own thoughts, trying to push away the urge to run up and take his hand, fighting the impulse wanting him to be nice to her. She was angry at herself for still wanting more of him; more than what she had asked for and more of what he had given. _He's not that kind, Mac,_ she argued with herself, _he's just playing with your mind, making you feel weak. _She didn't want to regret walking into her room early this morning, and lying down with him; it had been an adult decision that she was fully capable of making. She knew beforehand it would mean more to her than to him; but knowing it and experiencing it was not quite the same thing. And he'd seemed so agitated with her this morning, but all Mac was doing was protecting herself from being more hurt when he left her. Playing aloof and as if what had happened didn't matter seemed like the best protection for her heart.

Walking up the front walk, her eyes to the ground, Mac didn't notice that Dick had stopped at the front door until she was on the stoop with him. He stood stock-still, staring into his house, the front door wide open. Following his gaze, Mac asked, "What's wrong?"

He held his arm out as if to stop her from continuing on. "I think my place has been broken into. I didn't leave it like this. The lock is broken."

Alarmed, all her internal musings gone, Mac's gaze sharpened to see that, sure enough, the deadbolt on the front door was in fact busted. "The Castle?" she whispered.

Dick's arm didn't move. "That's my first guess. They're looking for something." He peered through the doorway cautiously. "It just swung open when I went to put the key in the knob." Looking up and down the hallway, he ventured a step onto the tiled entryway. "Stay out here. Call 911."

"Dick, it's not safe," she heard herself warn him, panic in her voice. "Wait out here with me, please?"

"Relax, Mackie." Looking back at her, Dick gave her a crooked smile. "I'd already be dead if they wanted me that way. I think they're long gone. Call the cops."

Mac already had her phone out, dialed and to her ear before he had finished his sentence. Reporting to the dispatcher what their emergency was, she was asked to stay where she was until help arrived, which she readily agreed to do. Dick, on the other hand, had tiptoed down the hallway and disappeared into his office, where she couldn't see him..

Five minutes later he returned with a somber expression etched on his face. "They got my files for the foundation work, damn it. Not sure what else they were looking for, but whatever it was, I think they got the mother lode anyway. Shit."

"Why didn't you have the files in a safe?"

"Uh, maybe because I didn't know until last night that anyone was out to sabotage it? Who would think to lock up proposals like that? None of it is for profit. The good thing is my lawyer has all the formal info so I don't have to start from scratch." He rubbed the back of his neck, shaking his head in disbelief. "Whatever I did to get in these fuckers sights again, I regret it to hell."

It was less than five minutes later when a cop car pulled up and two police officers came walking up the walk, one young and heavy, the other wiry and old. They took separate statements from Mac and Dick. Mac was careful not to bring up too much about the past few days, because she was unsure who might be under the Castle's thumb, but admitted that Dick had spent the previous night at her apartment. She wasn't sure how to get around that fact, especially when the cop point-blank asked, but she didn't volunteer where Dick had been the nights since the incident at the beach. The cops didn't ask, and Mac didn't feel the desire to inform them, in case the Castle was in their pocket. No need to tip them off with more information that they already had. Not yet anyway.

Her statement was taken by the older officer, down the walkway away from Dick, and though the cop acted like he wanted private interviews, she knew Dick could hear every word that she said because she could hear Dick's statement he gave to the other cop. There was nothing secretive about either interview. Hers wrapped up first, taking the opportunity, she called Veronica to give her an update on their day and find out if she had learned anything at the police department.

"Hey, Mac. How's tricks?" Veronica answered cheerfully. "I just got a text from Dad saying he's found something at the Ten. What's new on your end?"

Bracing herself, Mac answered, "Dick's place has been broken into. The cops are here right now, trying to figure just exactly what's been taken, but Dick already discovered that his files regarding the foundation have been swiped. He's probably going to be here all day. I think they want to dust for prints and I don't think Dick will leave Lamb's minions by themselves here. I don't blame him. They're going to destroy this place."

"Well, hell. Seriously?" Veronica asked, incredulous. "What else can go wrong?"

Rolling her eyes, Mac said nothing and then realized her friend couldn't see her, so she said out loud, "The fact that it's Lamb's buffoons is not helping. They took our private statements within feet of each other, I mean, really? I know how to interrogate better than that, and my only experience is from CSI."

"Well, at least you're innocent. They can't trip you up."

"Yeah, well, that's true, but if these guys are in someone's pockets, we're screwed. We just told them where Dick's stayed last night. If someone's paying attention, they know where to find him now."

"Do you want me to have Dad come sit with Dick while the cops do their thing? He said he found what he needed, so I think that we've got ourselves a good lead. I'm meeting him in twenty minutes anyway to go over what he's found. Maybe we should all just meet at the beach house."

Feeling better knowing that someone would be able to stay with Dick while Mac went to deal with the Sinclair mess, Mac told Veronica to head straight to the beach house as soon as she could. Promising to text Keith, Veronica ended the call saying she would be there in forty-five minutes. Mac checked the time on her phone and saw that it would be one o'clock in less than four hours. Feeling slightly nauseous, she came to stand next to where Dick watched as the cops looked around his house.

"These idiots are tampering with evidence," Dick told her. Raising his voice, he yelled out to them, "Sirs, don't you need gloves before entering a crime scene?" Under his breath, he muttered, "And wear booties maybe? Sheesh, I know more from watching CSI."

Mac felt herself laugh. Count on Dick to help her relax. "You know don't you, they say television portrays crime scene investigations incorrectly? These fools must know a better system."

"Or else they know tampering will help their bosses get off scot free. Shit, I'm screwed, aren't I? Who isn't involved with this cluster?"

"Veronica and Keith are on their way over. Maybe Keith can give pointers to these guys." Mac gestured to the cops, "One thing they've got going for them is that I don't see any donuts. That's a positive sign, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but maybe the powder from those white powdered ones is what they use to dust for prints. You should have Ronnie pick some up at a bakery. It might make these gomer's jobs easier." Dick's brow wrinkled in concern as he watched the smaller cop put his hands straight on the handle of the front door. "Better yet, call Mr. Mars and have him bring his own kit. Why did we call these idiots?"

Mac elbowed him. "When did your faith in the justice system go so south? You ordered me to call them, remember? If you can't trust Lamb and his boys, who can you trust?"

He elbowed her softly back. "It kept you safe and out of the house, right? Never fear, my faith in the boys in blue has not been shaken; I had none to begin with."

* * *

Veronica pulled up and parked beside the police car, Keith pulling in right behind her. They both stepped out of their cars and walked up to where Mac and Dick stood supervising the two cops that had responded. Standing next to Mac, Veronica stared at the mess the cops were making of their work. "I see we got the best of the lot."

Rolling her eyes, Mac turned to look at her. "I don't even see how these guys understand how to put their shoes on the right feet."

"How long have they been staring at the door knob?" Keith asked with interest. "Seems to me they should have moved on from there by now."

"They're pretty sure they can ID fingerprints by the naked eye. Apparently forensics have stepped it up a notch in the technology department the past few years. Do you think they'll get a match?" Dick ruminated sarcastically. "In other news, I do have a security tape." He motioned above the door, to a corner of the eave, where an obvious camcorder was perched. "How long do you think we should wait to tell them?"

All four sets of eyes stared at the security camera for a beat. Keith began laughing. "Good thing we expect nothing less from Balboa's finest. How long did they say they would be here processing?"

Pondering the cops' obvious lack of brains, Veronica said, "It might be a better plan to not let them know about it at all, since they might be involved. We can look at the tape tonight."

Dick pulled out his phone to check the time. "They've been here an hour, and at the rate they're going, it will be most all day before they're done. I can't leave them alone, the place is more at risk with them here than if I just left all the doors open with a sign that said 'free' out front."

"Sadly, your worry is merited." Keith gestured to the side of Dick's house, where a small patio set sat. "I have news. Shall we sit?"

"Sounds ominous," Veronica murmured, following the men, sitting next to Mac. She hadn't seen her since last night after their talk. When she woke up with Mac gone, she knew where Mac had gone. As disappointed as she was with her friend, she was familiar with the natural craving of the comfort of sex. She had been victim of that before but she didn't want Mac to become a prisoner of it. Veronica had been lucky, because her weakness was Logan's weakness…and neither could hold the weakness over the other, because they shared it. They were the same and always had been.

She watched how Mac stiffly arranged herself in a wrought-iron chair, between Keith and Veronica, across from Dick. How Mac wouldn't quite meet anyone's eye. She kept her back straight and her hands folded in her lap. Veronica turned her attention to her dad. "So what did you find out?"

"Well, quite a bit, actually. I think we need to get tickets to Salt Lake as soon as possible." Keith opened a messenger bag that he had brought with him, pulling out paperwork. "I found out that on the first of every month, the Ten resets all of their passwords to all of their financial accounts. On June first, Madison had a regular aerobics class in the early afternoon, which was the last real class she taught before she disappeared on the second. According to the accountant, Mark Tennison is not allowed in the back room of the Ten, because he is not an 'employee.' Alex Jr. has all but taken over the Ten and is squeezing his brother out—and has banned him from anything considered 'business' at the gym. Mark is allowed to work out, strictly as a member, but he can't have anything to do with the legalities of the place. He lost that privilege last fall." He pointed out some numbers on a sheet labeled 'Profits.' "My theory is that Mark asked Madison to get those passwords. An interesting thing also is that the accountant only does major profit reporting after the end of every month. So when Susan, that's the accountant, comes in, she comes in the first of the month to do her reports, balance the books, and reset the passwords. Ideally, the company checks the books twice a month: on the first and the fifteenth. But Susan admitted that she slacks on the fifteenth's check; she just verifies totals and doesn't check transactions. There's a lot of leeway for someone to rip the company off. "

Veronica leaned her elbows on the table, looking closer at the paperwork, "This is May's statement."

Keith nodded. "Susan gave me the last complete month and part of June's. So far, nothing seems off." He shuffled the papers and showed her June's report, which only held four days' worth of numbers. "She is working on getting the rest. She's setting up an alert at the bank for anything strange."

"What do the passwords access?" Mac asked, finally becoming interested. "Is it just to bank accounts or does it access member's information? Member's credit cards could be at risk."

Keith nodded. "I'm worried about that, too. But the theft so far at ThinSlimNow is only from within the companies own accounts, no customers. If Mark is responsible for that, which I'm positive he is, I think for now he's only going after his family's accounts and not their clients. So that's good news."

"So is that really all that Madison could have taken?" Veronica asked, doubtful. "Passwords? Where are they kept?"

Keith's eyes crinkled in amusement. "Ever the cynic. Ah, doubting Thomas, I looked into all of the possibilities, have no fear." Again, he shuffled through his papers. "The passwords are locked in the back and the keys are in the front with the receptionist. Candy keeps the key for Susan, who unlocks the back cash office with the key, where the passwords and backup drives of the accounts are stored. Each night, Candy or whoever is there, takes profits from that day to the back, and once a week, a deposit is made, the totals recorded and filed away for the days Susan comes in. That's why Candy keeps the key."

"So in actuality, Mark could have up to thirty days to wipe out those accounts." Mac said. "He could do a lot if he's savvy with a computer." She took one the reports Keith held to look closer at it. "Mark could have taken those backup drives and falsify reports."

Keith shook his head. "While I think that could happen, it's not likely. The ThinSlimNow accounts were easy to see the tampering. I think they would have caught it by now. We're the ones telling the Ten that there's a problem. They haven't even caught it yet, so I think it's just beginning."

Dick, who had been silent until now, suddenly asked, "But how often is someone looking at the accounts at ThinSlimNow versus the account at the Ten? Didn't you say that Alex Jr. is the only family member involved with the Ten and that ThinSlimNow is the baby of the family?"

Keith pointed at Dick, a light in his eye. "You have a very valid point. Susan and Alex Jr. are about the only ones that pay attention to the Ten's account. Mrs. McDougal pays attention to the ThinSlimNow account as well as about four other people, because there so many expenses that goes with that company."

"So he could do some manipulating of the Ten's accounts and no one would catch it for a while." Mac reached out to pull the May's report closer to her. "If he has any idea of what he's doing, he could have already falsified the month of May and no one has caught it yet. How long has Mrs. McDougal suspected someone of stealing and who all knows you are looking into it, Keith?"

Keith mentally counted back. "It's been well before April since Mrs. McDougal suspected anything. She didn't come to me until the latter part of May, and for the first while I focused on Devinity Quinn, the accountant of ThinSlimNow. And as for who knows? Mrs. McDougal and her husband. And now Alex Jr, since we had to clear the appointment this morning with the accountant at the Ten. Devinity Quinn has no idea I was even in the office."

"I would find out if Mrs. McDougal ever mentioned even on passing to Mark about looking into the books. It might have scared him away from those accounts and to the Ten's." Mac set the paperwork back down. "I can look into the bank statements if you'd like, hacking into the bank shouldn't be too much."

Keith's gazed honed in on Mac. "Let me do that officially. I don't want you anywhere near cash accounts that large. I've already had Susan request paper copies from the past four months."

She nodded her agreement. "Do you know where Mark is supposed to be right now? Has anyone seen him lately?"

"He is supposed to fly back into Salt Lake International early this afternoon. He has a two day conference there again. He flew straight from Salt Lake to New York and back. That's why we need tickets there ASAP. I think he left Madison at the cabin for a few days while he keeps up with appearances." He turned to Veronica. "Did you find anything out at the police department?"

"Not enough to report. There are no police records for either Mark or Madison. But Norris…got really quiet when I asked about the night at the beach, Dick. I asked about the Muldoon brothers and he shut right down. Like he knows something that he's not at liberty to discuss." Lowering her voice, she glanced through the glass partition where she could see the police officers roaming around aimlessly. "We made a date to meet later tonight, with all of us."

"Don't tell Logan, Ronnie. " Dick quirked his eyebrows at her. "I promise to keep mum."

She rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Dick. Besides, maybe Logan's into threesomes."

Keith loudly cleared his throat. "Um…your father is sitting right here, next to you, ears well within hearing range. Please keep in mind that my chosen understanding is that you are still very much an innocent and I very much like thinking that your deepest desire is a pony."

Grinning sheepishly, Veronica clapped her hands quickly together and responded, "A pony? That _is_ my greatest desire!"

"That's my girl. Who's your daddy?"

Her smile faded. "I _hate _it when you say that."

* * *

Veronica didn't get a chance to talk to Mac alone for another hour. The policemen had interrupted their conversation by pulling Dick into the house needing his opinion on something. Keith had taken the opportunity to ask for an update on Dick's case, which had taken time to explain. The Castle had been something only Veronica had dealt with back in college and she had never brought it to her dad. He didn't know about the incident at the reunion—he had never found out about the sex tape, and Veronica preferred to keep in that way. She wasn't convinced it wouldn't be exposed, but she had to try at least. It had brought way too much grief to be brought up once again. Damn that tape and its poltergeist ways. Just when she thought it was history, it came back rearing its ugly head. Its haunting qualities never ceased to amaze her.

Keith eventually disappeared and Veronica finally had an opportunity to talk with Mac. She checked the time on her phone; it was less than an hour before they had to leave for the Sinclair's. Mac had walked out to the back porch, looking out over the sand, to the ocean and at the waves crashing into the beach. Veronica joined her standing side by side.

"You ready for this?" She asked softly, in as kind a tone as she could possibly conjure. "I didn't give them any real warning about what I needed to talk to them about."

Sighing, Mac kept staring straight ahead. "Ready as I'll ever be."

Veronica put her arm around Mac, drawing her in for a side hug. "I'll be there the whole time. I won't leave unless you ask me to."

Mac seemed to think about that. "It's going to get awkward. Do you know what you're planning to say to them?"

"Well," Veronica dropped her arm. "I'm going to start with the connection to Mark Tennison and the fraud case. That we have irrefutable proof through Madison's email that they have been conspiring for some time now. But as soon as I say that, they'll know we know…so I guess the rest will be up to you."

Mac absorbed that, saying little, instead resting her head against Veronica's shoulder. They both watched various people on the beach: a young family, playing Frisbee, their little girl trying to throw correctly but causing the plastic disk to shoot straight up in the air, catching in the wind, the father laughing as he chased it down. An old man tossing a tennis ball for his dog, a young couple holding hands, strolling slowly in the midst of the frothy tide. They could hear laughing, the carefree sound of summer. It didn't quite mix with the emotions either woman was feeling, disconnected and alone. Veronica wished there were more she could do, but wasn't sure what exactly she _should_ do. So instead of words, she just let Mac be quiet and think.

Time passed before the sound of someone behind them interrupted the silence. Veronica turned in time to see Dick staring at them uncertainly. Pulling away from Mac, Veronica squeezed her hand. "Should we drive together? I'll go talk to Dad and then we can head out." She left Mac, who didn't even seem to realize that Dick had appeared or that Veronica was leaving her with him.

As she passed him, Veronica cautioned him, "Be nice."

* * *

_Be nice. _Dick watched as Veronica slipped by him to head to the front of the house where Keith sat, having just ended a phone call with someone from the Ten. There had been a warning in her eye as she brushed by him, a look that told him more than her two little words. Blinking, he pulled his attention back to Mac, who stood staring out at the ocean. This had always been a favorite spot, just looking out at the ocean, listening to the waves and the children, watching people who had better lives than his, enjoying the little bit of heaven the beach offered.

"Hey," he said softly. Then rolled his eyes. How idiotic. _Hey. _He should really work on expounding his vocabulary. He padded softly to stand next to her, put his arm around her and pulled her into him. "What's wrong?" It was amazing that she didn't pull away, instead melting straight into him with a sigh escaping her as she buried her head into soft fabric of his t-shirt. Her arms wrapped around him tightly. So he just held her, waiting for her to answer, not saying anything more. They stood like that for quite a while, staring out onto the beach.

It was a companionable silence; one Dick didn't feel the need to break with more questions or comments. Instead, he just rubbed his fingers in circles at her waist. Whatever was on her mind last night was bothering her again today, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out what was wrong. She still didn't seem to want to talk about it, and he was reluctant to push. Just having her next to him would have to be enough.

Eventually, Mac pulled away. She laughed self-consciously, not meeting his eyes. "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry. Sorry for what?" Trying to catch her eye, he ducked his head down to look at her. "Do you…want to talk about it?"

Mac turned away, stepping closer to the edge of the stairs that led to the sandy beach. "No, not really."

Holding back his sigh, Dick replied, "You might be surprised at how well my ears listen."

"Trust me, this isn't something that just listening would help."

"Well, it would be a start, right?" When she didn't answer, he urged, "I want to listen. And I'll beat the shit out of whoever needs it, if that's what you mean by help." He touched her shoulder lightly, to try to get her to face him. "Mac, can't we at least _try_ at the listening portion of this? I don't want just another fuck buddy."

Mac was silent. Just when Dick was getting worried he had said too much, too soon, she turned to face him, tears shimmering in her eyes. "This isn't something I'm willing to talk about right now. But thanks for trying anyway." She glanced over his shoulder. "Here comes Veronica." Swallowing, she swept her hands across her face; covertly wiping away the traces of her emotion. Under her breath, Dick heard her mutter, "Off to my destiny." Looking straight at him, her expression turned hard. "And you don't need to try so hard, Dick. I didn't expect anything more than a fuck buddy. I'm just fine with it."

With that, Mac brushed past him and to Veronica, leaving Dick gaping after her.

* * *

It was mean. She knew she shouldn't have said it or in such a harsh tone. But she didn't know what to do with him—the nice, considerate, non-pushy Dick she always wondered if existed. Mac was getting proof, more with each passing moment, that he had a kinder side. A side that he only would let certain people see. The look he had given her this morning was proof—soft and dare she say it, full of affection. But there was only so much she could take, and even if didn't make sense, she needed to lash out. Everyone was being nice to her all of the time, walking around on eggshells. Dick didn't even know what the underlying problem was and he was being too nice. She couldn't deal. How could someone so..so.._empty_ be so aware of what she was feeling? Deep down, Mac knew Dick wasn't empty; but she never thought he could be so perceptive. What business did Dick have, giving her comfort when she didn't ask for it? Telling her that he wanted to share in her problems, as if they were a couple.

Approaching Veronica, Mac nodded toward the convertible and they headed straight for it. "Let's blow this popsicle stand," she said gruffly. "Get the show on the road."

* * *

Veronica was surprised at the firm resolve radiating from Mac when they drove off from the beach house. The purpose in the way Mac slammed the passenger door and buckled her seat belt spoke more than the words she didn't say. She could tell that Mac was gearing herself up to walk through the Sinclair's front door. She didn't know how to help her.

When Dick had approached them out on the deck, Veronica could see something flicker in his eye, an actual concern for what was going on. She knew he didn't know about the baby switch, she doubted that Mac was ready to let that one loose on anyone. But Veronica had made a choice to leave him with Mac, hoping that maybe Mac would choose to take the comfort that he wanted to give. Mac had apparently taken his comfort earlier; he seemed willing to give comfort again. Even if the two of them were a temporary thing, Veronica hoped that for a little while at least, Mac could take the comfort that Dick offered and hold it close, since he seemed to want to give it. Sometimes friendship could only go so far in that department.

It reminded her of the day her mother had walked back into her life a few months ago, and how much she had wished for Logan's arms to wrap her up and help her forget. To forget how awful and abandoned she felt; seeing her mother with a new life, raising children that Veronica had known nothing about. How much she had longed to actually look into his eyes, to see his smile quirk up at her; and there was nothing she could do except to write letters and Skype him. They had no choice but to do the little they could do to be with each other; but maybe Mac could take the actual physical comfort that Dick could give, even if it were temporary.

Twenty minutes later, they were parking in the front driveway at the Sinclair's. Gathering up her messenger bag, Veronica glanced down to see that Mac had her fingers entwined tightly together, her knuckles white, fingernails digging crescent moon shapes into her skin. Veronica put a hand over them. "What can I do to help?"

"I feel like we're going in ready to bulldoze them," Mac answered, eyes drifting up to the front stoop and the front door. "I've dreamed of what it would actually be like, to be part of this family for real. Wondered what they would think of my life, if they would be proud or disappointed. I've always kept to myself because I didn't want to hurt my actual family by coming here, learning more about them. But now," she glanced at Veronica, "This is just so weird. I'm excited and I want to puke at the same time. I'm relieved it's so close to being over and out in the open and that I don't have to act like I don't know. I want to get to know Lauren. I'm scared for her and worried about what's wrong with her. I'm scared I've wasted too much time, living under a rock, pretending this isn't true; that these people don't matter."

Veronica patted Mac's hand in a comforting gesture. "You know, both sets of your parents made a conscious decision to not tell you about the switch. Your parents told you that you were adopted when, after high school? They've given you plenty of time on your own to find out who your blood parents are. Maybe in a way they wanted you to find out. I mean, your best friend is a PI, for crying out loud. Do you think they know you've always known the truth?"

Nodding, Mac said softly, "Probably, yeah. We've never talked about it, though." She rubbed at her eyes. "Mom and Dad are so great. When they told me I was adopted…I just, I couldn't admit to them I knew everything. Then they chose to not be truthful, and I could see it, written all over their faces. That they thought I would choose the Sinclair's over them. They didn't tell me because of fear, and I didn't tell them I knew because of fear…but now, this is forcing me out of my bubble of denial." Staring out of her window, Mac pulled her hands from under Veronica's and began to open the door, "Just…don't leave, all right? I need all the moral support I can get."

"Trust me. I will not leave. I apologize up front, though, because I have to keep it on track as much as possible, since they may hold information we need. As awkward or as tender as it may get, we have to get through this for the sake of the cases as well." Veronica touched Mac's arm lightly, "Please understand that I hope this goes really well for you. I want these people to be good to you. I know you need them to be good to you." She grinned, "This may be the beginning of great things for you, Mac. I'm glad it's finally about to begin."

Pausing from stepping out of the car, Mac turned back to look at her friend. "Me, too. You have no idea."

**A/N: I wasn't sure exactly how to do the 'morning after' scene. But I needed to get on with the mystery portion, and so I hope you all aren't too disappointed with MaDi not having a good serious talk. It will happen eventually. Next chapter is the conversation with the Sinclair's. Thanks for all the reviews/follows/favorites. I am still working hard on this story and have some great (at least I think) scenes I cannot wait to write. They should be humorous, emotional, all that jazz. Hopefully. Thanks again. I love hearing from you all. I really appreciate that so many of you are reading this story, so thank you to everyone that clicks on the link to read this. **


	17. Chapter 17 Reunion

**A/N: The long awaited baby-switch reunion chapter. This is all Mac's POV. Hopefully you all enjoy it! I, of course, had to mix the mystery in with their reunion. I am almost done with the next installment, also, so hopefully I will get a chance to tweak it and have it out this weekend if not by Monday. Thanks again to all of your reviews/comments, follows, and favorites. I do appreciate it and try to address some of your concerns in these chapters. I take to heart everything you mention in the reviews. BTW, to you LoVeShippers: I am one through and through. The MaDi in this was a test for myself to see if I could do it. I really thought there would be more LoVe in this, and there will be (note my bottom A/N for slight detail on that) I appreciate your patience as MaDi find each other in this thing. Thanks again!**

Chapter 17

Veronica let Mac ring the doorbell. The plan was to pull the band-aid off bit by bit: lay the facts out one at a time and bring the baby switch up as gradually as possible. Veronica had confirmed that both Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair would be meeting with them. It would be the first time since the investigation began that he would be consulted and the first time that Mac would ever have met him, even in passing. Holding her breath, Mac waited on the stoop with her friend as footsteps approached the other side of the door and it swung open.

It was Lauren. She, of course, was older than the last time Mac had seen her, a bright orange and yellow scarf wrapped stylishly on her head. Mac felt her lips twist in a painful half-smile. The girl was college-aged, dressed in short cut-off shorts and a bright neon yellow tank top. Lauren smiled at them and opened the door wider. "Hi! I'm Lauren! Mom said she was expecting you. I'll take you into the den and then get Mom and Dad." She led them to the room down the hallway and to the right, asking, "Can I get you something to drink? We have iced tea or water, soda?"

Mac, watching her mini-me, said, "We'll have what you're having, Lauren. Whatever is fine. "

Lauren disappeared, leaving the two women alone in the big expanse of the den. Mac had been here once before; eleven years prior, at the party she had crashed. It was in this room she had first met Lauren, reading Wuthering Heights or something akin to it, leaned back in a comfortable chair. Mac had been so shocked to meet her that their conversation had been pretty ordinary and quickly interrupted by Madison, who promptly kicked Mac out. Mac wondered if Lauren even remembered that conversation at all.

Mrs. Sinclair entered the room a few minutes later, followed by her husband. Lauren returned with a tray, a pitcher of iced tea and four glasses balanced on it. She set it down and disappeared out of the room shutting the door behind her not saying another word.

Mrs. Sinclair spoke first, "This is my husband, Jeffrey. Thank you for coming this afternoon, ladies. I've been anxious all day." Pouring tea into each glass, she offered them both a glass before settling back into a chair and smiling. "So, Veronica, you say you have found some information you'd like to share?"

Mac had been quietly watching when parents walked into the door. Immediately, she noticed their eyes widen slightly at seeing her there, confirmation enough to her that they both knew who she was and what she looked like. Jeffrey Sinclair tightly smiled at her as he had sat down, Mac nodding to him faintly, keeping herself as straight as possible, not exuding weakness or any other indication that she knew what was about to hit him and his wife.

Veronica made brief eye contact with Mac before answering, "We do." When neither Sinclair responded, Veronica looked at Jeffrey, "As Mrs. Sinclair may have told you already, the last time we spoke about the case, I had found evidence that Madison had most likely gone on an extended weekend trip with a new boyfriend, Mark Tennison, whose family owns the Ten."

Nodding, Mr. Sinclair looked to his wife. "Elizabeth mentioned that, yes."

"Have you ever met Mark Tennison?" Veronica asked him.

Mr. Sinclair sat back. "No. Madison just mentioned him months ago." Staring up at the ceiling, he said slowly, "It's really hard to believe that she's dating that guy, actually."

Veronica tilted her head in interest. "What makes you say that?"

Rubbing a hand over his chin, Mr. Sinclair answered, "Madison came to me back in the fall about him. She wanted advice as to how to handle him, because he had started asking her out a lot and wouldn't take no for an answer. She asked me whether she should report him to management or not, because she felt like he was harassing her at work. Maddie was worried about telling him no and whether the Ten would find a reason to dismiss her instead of writing him up, since it's his family's business."

"So what did she decide to do?"

"I advised her to tell him the truth: that she had boyfriend. She was dating Rick at the time. I think she just avoided him after that."

"So what was so bad that he asked her out to begin with? Why would she have reported him?" Mac asked.

Mr. Sinclair eyes flicked to her. "Madison is…um…by the book, I guess you'd say. She knew that there was supposed to be no fraternizing at work, it says so right in their contract. But the Tennison boys do whatever they want, according to what Madison implied. She told me once that the 'no dating fellow employees' was a clause not meant for the management."

Veronica reached for her tea, commenting, "That sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen."

Nodding, Mr. Sinclair agreed, saying, "That's what I said. But Madison said it was just a feeling she got, and it couldn't be proven."

"Why would she stay and subject herself to that, though? I would be out the door so fast…"Mac cut in, looking between the couple in front of her. "When someone is inappropriate at work, you have every right to report them."

"Madison has a good thing at the Ten." Mrs. Sinclair, finally joining the conversation, told them, "She's the lead instructor, and just the beginning of this year started private lessons, going to movie sets to help with some of the lead actresses when they're on location out here in Neptune or nearby. She's only done it twice, but that really has been quite an opportunity for her. I think she didn't want to mess that up for herself if she could help it."

Veronica stared at Mrs. Sinclair for a few moments, a vague look of surprise on her face. Abruptly, she turned to focus on Mr. Sinclair. "Thank you for your honesty concerning Mark Tennison. I'm glad to get a feel for how Madison at one time felt about him. We have made some surprising discoveries this week concerning Mr. Tennison that need to be addressed today with the two of you, and one of those discoveries is that there is a very strong possibility that Mark and Madison are together at this very moment."

Both Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair were watching Veronica, dual looks of concern and slight confusion etched on their faces. Finally, Mr. Sinclair asked, "What else needs to be addressed?"

Taking her time Veronica took a sip of tea, carefully set her glass back on the edge of the coffee table that sat between the four of them. Clearing her throat, she adjusted her jacket before answering. "It's come to light that my partner, Keith Mars, has been working on a fraud case that involves Mr. Tennison directly."

"What are you saying?" Mrs. Sinclair asked. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"We have found evidence," Veronica stated, "That Mark Tennison has been skimming money from his family's other company's accounts and very likely has begun the same scheme within the Ten. My father has been working with Mark's mother, trying to find out who has been stealing from them, and just recently Mark has become the prime suspect in that case. When we went over our cases earlier this week, we discovered the link between the two cases." She paused, searching for words, "There is significant evidence that Madison helped Mark take information out of the Ten."

"What type of evidence? What…type of information?" Mrs. Sinclair asked cautiously, looking between them.

Veronica opened her mouth to speak, but Mac felt herself compelled to barrel over her friend, saying, "Mrs. Sinclair, may I call you Elizabeth?" When her mother nodded, Mac continued, "When we discovered the connection between these cases, we treated them as separate until we were more certain that they are most definitely linked." Pausing, she tried to find words to explain what they had found. "As you may know, I work for Mars Investigations in a technical capacity most of the time." Seeing their confused expressions, Mac clarified, "I hack. I'm a computer hacker. We have found evidence, through Madison's email, that she was conspiring to in fact take bank account data from the Ten and meet up with Mark Tennison sometime late last week."

"You've read her email?" Mrs. Sinclair asked, her face visibly paling, eyes locked on Mac's.

Here it was. _Now or never_, Mac thought. "I have, yes. We know about Lauren's illness and Mr. Sinclair's possible lay off at work, among other things." She gestured for Veronica to pull out the copies of the emails they had taken from Madison's account. "We know that you were concerned that Lauren might need a donor match, and that you were considering contacting me. I wish I would have known, Elizabeth," steeling herself, she plowed on, "I would have been glad to donate whatever Lauren might have needed, and I would not have made a big scene." As she said all this, Mac had looked between both her father and mother, but now, as they processed her words, she sat back against the cushion of the couch and stared straight up at the ceiling, silent and waiting for their reaction.

"You…you _know?_" Elizabeth Sinclair's voice squeaked out, alarmed. "I don't…you…you know?"

The pain evidenced in her voice made Mac look back at her. She could see mixed emotions splayed out on her mother's face: shock, love, sadness, regret, happiness, torment. All the sensations that Mac herself had felt at one time or another, many times this very week. "Of course I know," she heard herself murmur. "I'm nothing like the Mackenzie's. Veronica verified it for me junior year of high school."

Jeffrey Sinclair had said nothing up to this point, his body still and tense, only listening to her revelation. Mac could see beyond the top button of his collared shirt where the skin was exposed that his pulse beat violently. Mac could hear Veronica next to her shuffling the emails in her hands, unsure of what to do; the sound of the clock on the wall ticking loudly, the background noise to her life-changing moment forever ingrained in her memory. She felt as if she were in a tunnel or cave; her ears tuned to everything but nothing between the pounding of her heart and the intake of her erratic breath. Her eyes bounced between both parents, waiting for the disappointment she was sure was coming.

There was no disappointment, however. Mac was shocked when Elizabeth stood up suddenly, tripping over her own feet as she crossed over to sit next to Mac on the couch. She pulled her into a hug before Mac had anytime to process what she was doing, her mother's arms tightly wound around her. "Oh my God!" Elizabeth breathed in her ear, "I've waited so long to hold you, and you've known for _years_!"

Arms and hands, lips, cheeks, all exposed skin was being touched by the other, and Mac suddenly laughed a relieved sort of laugh. Pulling back, she saw her mother's eyes reflecting tears, years of pent up emotion spilling out, the most revealing of reunions that she had ever imagined. Feeling the cushions moving around her, Mac felt rather than saw Veronica stand to give them room, and suddenly very large, very masculine arms were wrapping around the other side of her as Jeffrey Sinclair embraced her as well. They sat like that, all three of them, just listening to each others heartbeats and breathing, staring between one another, hugging and holding, laughing and crying. Whispering in relieved puffs of air about years gone by, wasted time and opportunity.

It was minutes, if not a good twenty of them, that passed before Veronica broke the peace between the three of them by clearing her throat. Mac opened her eyes to see Veronica, standing at the edge of room, obviously trying to give them space. Her friend grinned; a pleased and anxious kind of smile mixed all together, her expression changing into a reluctant grimace as she pointed to her wrist to remind Mac of the time and the case. Nodding, Mac pulled away from her parent's tight embrace, their arms dropping unwillingly from her. Mac looked at them both, wondering what on earth she could say, now that this secret twenty-eight years in the making was out.

Sensing her hesitance, Veronica stepped closer to them. "Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair, I really am so glad for you that you have this chance to get to know Mac now. I really, really am. You have _no _idea the relief I have, seeing your receptiveness and obvious love for my best friend. She deserves every ounce of your care." Stepping around the chair that had previously been occupied by Mr. Sinclair, Veronica sat down in it. "But the fact of the matter is that we have discovered a lot more concerning Madison's case, and now that the…"she paused, "delicate nature between you and Mac here has been brought out, I am hoping that we can move forward with the case."

It was interesting, Mac thought, how Elizabeth and Jeffrey had each taken a hold of one of her hands and were not letting go. Both parents were firmly grasping the hand they held, with no indication that they intended to ever release her. She stared straight at Veronica, trying to pay attention to the evidence Veronica was bringing forth as she continued with her speech, but failing, her mind instead attempting to wrap around the fact that she was sitting between her birth parents.

Jeffrey Sinclair tipped his head toward Veronica. "I apologize," he told her, "We, of course, want to know everything you have found out about Madison. Please continue." There was a wobble in his voice, Mac noticed, a trace of emotion that she wasn't sure could be defined as sadness or elation. It probably was a mixture of both. He squeezed her hand tightly.

Veronica, ever the professional, began once again with the information they had gathered. "As Mac mentioned, we found through the emails that Lauren is ill and that you, Mr. Sinclair, were possibly going to be laid off. In the emails, Madison seems very concerned about your insurance being dropped and the cost of the treatments if and when Lauren needed them. In the later dated emails, it seems those things did happen."

He nodded in confirmation. "Lauren has Wilm's Tumor, which is a tumor on the kidney; very rare for young adult to have. Usually only young children get it. Therefore, it took the doctors a little while to confirm it, because they thought Lauren was too old to have it. We thought for a while that a donor would be needed," he looked at Mac, smiling tenderly, rubbing his other hand over the hand he held. "But we discovered not long after that she wouldn't need one. Lauren went in and they took the kidney and tumor, and she has been on chemo treatments for once a week ever since. I take her in every Thursday, that's why I wasn't with Elizabeth last week when she came into Mars Investigations. I stay home with Lauren while looking for work."

Perking at that, Veronica leaned forward. "So you did lose your job?" When he nodded, she asked, "And what about insurance?"

He put his free hand to his jaw, thinking back. "I was laid off mid-May. But before that, they forced us to use up all of our vacation and personal time so when we got our pink slips, we were done, insurance and everything. No severance package worth speaking about."

"What are you doing for insurance right now?" Veronica asked.

"We signed up with the government health insurance program. It's expensive but we had no other choice," Mr. Sinclair answered.

"Would Madison have been worried about how you were going to pay for it all?" Mac asked, squeezing his hand she held.

He breathed in deeply, letting the air out slowly. "When we first found out about Lauren, I told Madison I was worried because I knew I was going to be laid off by June. Madison was here one night and I kind of vented about the cost of the insurance options. I knew at the time my company offered a COBRA plan, you know what those are? It's the insurance you get through your previous employer, but you are required to pay the premium, with no help from the company, of course. One draw to that job was the fact that my entire family was paid for by the company. So for us to be on the COBRA plan was really high anyway, then even more so because Lauren is so sick. We normally pay nothing. The cost was going to skyrocket. When I looked into the health care act through the government, I was shocked at how high the cost out-of-pocket would be since they look at the previous year's income to base your premium. We had to sign up for that so we didn't get fined and also so that Lauren gets the best care available; the hospital doesn't like people that don't have insurance. It's been expensive," he shrugged, "but necessary. To not do everything we can for Lauren's health isn't worth the risk." Turning, he looked at Mac, "When I told Madison, she didn't seem to even listen to what I was saying. I didn't think she was upset or worried about it at all."

Veronica, who still had the emails in her hand, shuffled through them. "I think she was more worried than you realized," she told them, pulling one out, "She implies in this email that Mark had offered to help her and that if she…" trailing off, she handed the paper across the coffee table, "well, anyway, basically it implies that she was considering his offer."

Elizabeth reached out first, taking the offered email and letting loose Mac's hand while she read over the words. "What does this have to do with anything? This just sounds like idle talk between friends."

"Well, as nice as it would be for us to believe that," Veronica held up her hand when Mrs. Sinclair began to protest, "We found the link to Mark and Madison through the Vertical Limit class I attended. So we know they are 'together,'" she air quoted, "We discovered the link to the fraud case quite accidently, but once learned of it, we decided to go back through Madison's email. We found a few between the two of them from the past month or so." She pulled out those copies of emails and handed them to Mr. Sinclair. "You can read it and interpret as you'd like, but to me, it sounds like Madison agreed to take something out of the Ten and meet up with Mark on June second." While the couple read over the emails, she continued, "Mr. Mars met with the Ten's accountant this morning, and discovered that Mark is not allowed access into the back offices of the gym. He hasn't been allowed back there for quite some time. Passwords and back up files to the Ten's bank records are stored in those offices. We suspect that for whatever reason, Madison snuck the passwords out of the Ten, past the front clerk, to get them to Mark. Mr. Mars has irrefutable proof that Mark has been skimming from the other family business, and we are certain that he has moved onto the Ten, with the help of Madison."

Both Sinclair's were silent, faces pale with shock. Mr. Sinclair ran his free hand through his hair, squeezing the tips tightly. "Oh, God." He finally said, looking between them all. "What has she gotten herself into?"

Mrs. Sinclair pulled her hand again from Mac's, nervously rubbing at her knee, clearly agitated. "We taught her better than this, I don't understand! She's always been such a good girl."

"I don't mean to imply otherwise, Mrs. Sinclair," Veronica hastened to say. "I'm certain that your home life was secure and would never have made Madison dishonest. But what these emails are telling us is this: Madison did not like Mark. He approached her months ago and she dissuaded his advances. This was, according to you, late last fall. In April, Madison broke it off with Rick, at the same time, became increasingly concerned for her sister's health. She discovers that your job is on the line, Mr. Sinclair, and along with your unemployment, health insurance may be terminated. The worry is evident in the email to Shelley Pomroy. At that point, she seems to begin a friendship with Mark Tennison, who you yourselves indicated she detested. " Clearing her throat, Veronica continued, "It seems to point to an ulterior motive on Madison's part."

Reading the emails, Mr. Sinclair looked over to his wife, sheepishly saying, "I honestly didn't know I stressed Maddie out. I told her that I wasn't sure how it was going to work out until I found a different job. I was rambling."

Mrs. Sinclair took the emails from her husband's hands and re-read them. She was silent for a few moments. "You say you think that Mark and Madison are together right now. Where do you think they are? Have you found them yet?"

Regretfully, Veronica shook her head. "No, we haven't found them. Mr. Mars has been following Mark's itinerary, which placed him in Salt Lake over the weekend and then he was supposed to fly to the east coast from there on Sunday night for two nights and then back to Utah this evening for another conference there over the weekend. We're pretty sure that's where Madison is, though, waiting for his return. Can I ask if Madison has ever been to Park City, Utah?"

"We used to go when the girls were younger, over Christmas break. We mostly went to Aspen, though." Mr. Sinclair answered.

Nodding, Veronica asked, "How do you think she feels about taking road trips by herself?"

Elizabeth scrunched her eyebrows together. "Road trips?" She scratched her neck in thought. "The furthest she's ever been in a car would be to Mexico a few times and Vegas. I couldn't say if she likes it or not."

"The reason I ask is because we are pretty sure that Madison left you at the restaurant on Wednesday, Mrs. Sinclair, to meet Mark in Utah. We believe that she dumped her car somewhere and found a car that Mark had ready for her, so that it wouldn't be traced back to her. She most likely left California, drove through Vegas and up to Salt Lake and over to Park City, meeting Mark at his family's cabin somewhere in the vicinity. We are pretty sure that she is there at this very moment, and we are making arrangements to leave in the morning to head there to confirm it."

Mr. Sinclair was becoming more and more tense. "You think her motive was to get money to help out with Lauren's treatment cost? That Mark promised her a portion of the cut of what he stole or what?"

Slowly, Veronica nodded. "If what you say about Mark is true, that Madison really didn't like him, then I do think that's what she is thinking. I don't see her just going in there and stealing information without a valid reason, at least valid to her. I don't know anything about your financial situation, Mr. Sinclair, but Madison knew you were worried. Mark could have approached her and easily figured out a way to talk her into helping him once he realized how he could make her do it. He might have promised her enough to make it seem worth the risk to her."

Mac was still sitting between her parents. Vaguely she had been listening to the conversation, but mostly she was noticing things like how Jeffrey's fingers were similar in shape to hers, and how Elizabeth's hair was the exact same shade as hers. The little bit she did hear, though, made her think about Dick, about whether or not the Sinclair's knew anything about the mess he was involved in. Out loud, she asked, "Mr. Sinclair, do you know if Madison has kept in contact with Patrick Muldoon?"

"Please, Cindy, call me Jeff," he told her, a slight laugh in his voice, "Please."

"I'm Mac," she responded, smiling back at him. "You can call me Mac."

"All right, Mac." Jeff sat back against the couch cushions. "Maddie broke up with Rick in April sometime, the early part of the month, I remember, because it was right when everything was happening with Laurie Bean." He looked at Mac, "I mean Lauren." When she nodded, he continued, "She never mentioned him much again, so I don't think so, do you know, honey?" He asked his wife.

"Rick?" Mrs. Sinclair made a face. "That guy was all about himself. I was glad when they ended it. I don't miss him." She brought her hand to her mouth, absently chewing a fingernail. "She might have mentioned him once or twice afterward, but she wasn't really talking to us part of April and May, because…" her eyes skimmed to Mac, "Well, she didn't take the switch news well. We approached her first when we first thought we needed a donor match, and explained about what had happened so long ago, but she was upset. It caused a lot of problems for a little while." She sighed, "Laurie Bean is our strongest link, because Maddie would do just about anything for that girl. We just wanted to explore all of our options, and seeking you out was the best one for a time. But we…we had made an agreement and even signed a contract, all those years ago, that neither family could seek out the other's child…but we were heavily considering breaking that agreement, damn the consequences. Lauren was too sick for us to care. So we came to Maddie about it. We wanted to be upfront, because there had been evidences, over the years, that she knew more than she let on. We first approached her about the possibility of a donor, and she…she just was horrible that day. She left in a huff, saying she wouldn't donate even if she were a match…she was angry at us, I know. Maddie is Maddie, and she is known for being… over dramatic sometimes. I don't think she really meant she wouldn't consider be a donor, I think she knew she couldn't be and just said it to be hurtful." Shaking her head, Elizabeth continued, "So it was really good news that we didn't need a match. We felt like it would save our relationship with Maddie, an answer to our prayers."

Withdrawing her hands from both Sinclair's grasps, Mac felt herself internally closing in. There it was: the admission why no one in their families had willingly told her or Madison about the baby switch. There was a legal agreement that they were bound to. An answer to _their _prayers? What about hers? What about all the nights of doubting and wondering, what it would have been like to be an 09er? And now, seeing these people's struggles, she could see that the 09er label was just stuck on the people that seemed shiny enough to 'deserve' it or were dumb enough to buy too expensive of a place in a prominent part of town. There seemed to be cracks in the finish here: job loss, sickness, lies within the walls of this home. Not much differentiated this home from another in any other part of town: there were still problems no matter the income or lack thereof. Mac felt her eyes seek Veronica's as if a helpless victim of a sinking ship.

Her mind flitted away from the case to begin longing to go bury her head back into the sand, where it had safely been sitting for the past eleven years. Unexpectedly, she wished Dick were here, sitting next to her, holding her hand. It hurt to hear this; hurt to know that these people chose to keep her away from them. How easy it would have been at any point in the past eleven years for her to just ring their doorbell and barge straight in, not giving a damn how they felt, only taking what she needed from them, their words and excuses…suddenly the contentment she had just been feeling was gone and in its place was anger.

The fact that she should have been a part of this family and that everything in her life, starting from the very beginning, had been a lie…and then to hear them say they were _grateful _they weren't forced to seek her out was insulting. She would have been a completely different person if she would have been theirs from the get-go; she would have dated the shallow Dick and probably been happy with everything she was offered back then. She would be a cardio-pole instructor. Actually, there was no way in hell that she would have ever settled with that. That in itself gave her some comfort.

Mac felt as if the air was suffocating her, choking her. Their words were flooding her brain; scornfully she realized that instead of ambushing them, _she_ was the one feeling deserted. Like she had been dropped out in the middle of the ocean, treading water without a life preserver, waiting for help to come that just might not make it in time. She stood up abruptly, stepping over the feet of Jeffrey Sinclair, coming over to stand in front of Veronica. She didn't break eye contact, instead sending as much of a signal as she could that she needed to get out of there, _now,_ and wouldn't wait for her if Veronica didn't make their excuses to go.

They weren't friends for nothing, because, thankfully, Veronica understood immediately. Pulling her eyes from Mac's, Veronica gestured toward the Sinclair's as Mac turned to face them one last time. "You're welcome to keep those copies of the emails. If you would look over them and if anything more strikes you as odd, I would greatly appreciate you letting me know. Included there is a concise report of what we have found up to this point. We have an appointment," she tapped her wrist, "that we were unable to cancel. We're hoping to keep this within the company of the Ten; there is no real proof yet that Madison has done anything illegal."

The two Sinclair's stood, and Veronica extended her hand to shake theirs. "Thank you for your time this afternoon. If we think of anything more, I'll contact you. One or more of us will be going to Utah no matter what, and I will report back to you what we find." She stepped over to the coffee table to gather up her messenger bag and Mac's purse, since Mac had seemed to have become stone. "As soon as any of us know anything more, I will call you or make arrangements for another meeting. It most likely won't be for a few days." Slinging her bag over her shoulder, Veronica handed Mac her purse.

The Sinclair's were glancing between each other, a look of confused caution passing between them. Veronica grabbed a hold of Mac's arm and led her out of the room, down the hall and to the front door, the couple following behind them. Mac heard them talking lightly between each other, and then louder, Mrs. Sinclair asked, "Mac?"

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Mac turned on her heel and looked at her mother. "Yes?"

"We would love to have you over some time for…for dinner, if you would like to. You could meet Lauren officially…"

A fist was grabbing Mac's heart, squeezing ever so tightly. She felt unable to breath but somehow responded, "Uh, maybe, yeah…sure."

Mr. Sinclair broke in, "Of course, after all of this dies down with Madison. I'm sure…" he paused, "We all need to process some of this. Do you have a boyfriend? We would love to meet him…" his hands came up apologetically, apparently reading Mac's horrified expression, "maybe that's too soon…I just thought…well, if Veronica here would like to join us…" his words were coming faster, tumbling out clumsily, "Bring whoever you want…I mean, to make it easier?" the last came out in the form of question, an enduring lilt to his voice exposing their vulnerability. "We would love to have you," he finished lamely.

She could tell they were trying so hard. There was a hopeful glint in both of their eyes, waiting for her answer. Here they were, holding out the olive branch, Lauren. Unsurprisingly, Mac was the same as Madison in that regard. She wanted her sister, too. Grudgingly, Mac felt her lips turn into a reluctant smile. "Maybe," she agreed, nodding, "I would love to really meet Lauren."

The acquiescent tone of her voice had them both bouncing on their heels, huge relieved smiles forming on their faces. They each began talking over the other, saying things like, "barbeque," and "family game night." Things that made Mac's stomach roll just thinking about: becoming a part of this family's traditions. It wasn't that she _didn't_ want to know them; but being thrown into them so suddenly…well, it would take time.

Veronica opened the door waiting patiently to see if Mac would choose to extend their stay. But she just let the two older adults each give her an awkward hug and then Mac was quickly out the door, down the steps rushing for the safety of the car, promising as she went that they would definitely find a time to get together some day in the future.

**A/N: I have an odd request. If you have the time to help me, I need a few ideas for really mean pranks that Cassidy and Dick would have played on each other when they were younger. Things that a high schooler and younger would actually think of and do. I am considering a flashback along those lines, but I have limited (and cheesy) prank ideas. I guess I'm not a pranking type. If you would PM me or leave it in the comments, I would so appreciate it. Next up is something I hope everyone will LoVe: I am letting a little secret out in the next chapter that I am really excited about! :)(FYI: Regarding Logan and Veronica. Ever the romantic.)  
**


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